Destiny of the Magi
by Locke1
Summary: Because an event from his past, Ranma is now a mage! And because of a new mission sent by the mage tower, he's in Nerima too! What's going to happen to Ranma now that he's a mage and not a martial artist?Chp.24 is up and the end of Act 1!
1. Act 1: Chapter 1

*Oh god.. oh god.. oh god...* 

The girl though as her green hair streamed behind her as she ran as fast as she can through the deserted streets.

*Come on.. where is it...* 

BOOOM

BOOOM

BOOOM

The Earth shook as each the creature got closer and closer to the girl.

*Damn... he's here...* 

The girl winced as the shaking starts to increase signaling the coming of the creature she's running from.

BOOOM 

BOOOM

BOOOM

"Oh my... you shouldn't be out right now when a monster is roaming the streets."

The girl facefaulted as another girl, about a head taller than her, with brown hair and blue dress with an apron is happily sweeping the pavement in front of her house.

"Umm... miss, err.. can you direct me to the Tendo Dojo?"

The other girl smiled, "Oh, you're in front of it right now."

The green haired girl slaps her forehead, "I need to talk to Soun Tendo NOW!"

"Father?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act one: Present

Chapter one:

Hi this is fate knocking.

*Note: All text in are thoughts.

"Father, there's someone here trying to find you!"

Soun Tendo walked up to the front door to find a green haired eyed girl wearing a white cape covering her body with a pattern of dragons, blue in color, bordering the bottom of the cape. Her hair is obviously dyed to the color since you can see that the root of her hair is light brown. Her gray eyes seemed to absorb all the colors around her making it seemingly multi-colored.

"Your Soun Tendo?"

"Yes, I am."

The girl sighed in relieve and smiled a little before reverting to her serious expression, "Tendo-san, I need something of your family's."

"What might that be young lady?"

"Your family blade, then Chinese blade Long Xien Dao."

Soun frowned, "Why do you need our family's blade?"

The girl bit her lip before reaching into her cape trying to find something.

****

Damnit! Where is it... GOT IT!

The girl pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to the Tendo patriarch.

Soun nodded as he read the piece of paper, "Very well... I shall hand the blade over to you."

"Do not worry Tendo-san, I will keep the Long Sen Dao save." The girl assured, "You WILL see it again."

The girl sighed in relieve as Soun went into the house to fetch the blade.

"Excuse me, would you like some tea ma'am?" The girl jumped a little.

"Umm... that would be great err..."

"Tendo Kasumi." Kasumi bowed.

"I'd like some tea Kasumi, thank you."

****

Good... after this, we BETTER get a vacation.

"Miss, here's our family blade." Soun said carefully handing the blade over the girl.

"Thank you Tendo-san," The girl bowed, "I will be back in about half an hour to return the blade... if every thing goes well."

"Best of luck," Soun nodded, "and may the goddess of protection watch over you."

The girl just smiled and ran off.

********************************************************************************

The girl glanced at the blade with curiosity, **Why would a Chinese magical blade be in the hands of a Japanese family**

Like the blade's story and how it got to Japan, its design is also a mystery. One would say that it is almost a stupid design. There is nothing really special in its magical ability, except that it has a very strong dispel spell ingrained into it, the perfect magic null weapon. The point that made it special is the blade's own design. Unlike all types of swords, where the blade is practically the same width all along it, this blade's widens as it goes closer to the "tip" of the blade making it look like a fan, hence it's name: The Dragon Fan Blade. Its sheath is equally unique as u can't pull it out by pulling it from the handle, to unsheathe this sword, you must remove the sheath from the blade by pulling it sideways.

****

God, he better appreciate what I'm doing for him... that idiot

BOOOOM

"Oh great... now I don't need to find him." The girl groaned once more before readying herself, "YOU OWE ME BIG TIME THIS TIME YOU HEAR ME!."

The creature, which resembles a giant fox, tilted his head sideways and studied the girl in front of him.

"Well, here goes..."

********************************************************************************

^28 minutes later^

"Hmm... the girl should be done by now." Soun glanced at the clock.

"WHAT! I OWE YOU! HA! IF IT WASN'T FOR ME, YOU'D BE THE ONE LIKE THAT!"

"WHAT! LIKE I'D BE SO STUPID TO GET HIT BY A SPELL LIKE THAT!"

"SO YOU'RE CALLING ME AN AMATUER NOW HUH!"

"YEAH! WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT!"

Soun frowned and walked outside to see what the commotion was all about to find himself greeted by the site of a boy and the girl from before ripping at each other's hair.

"Ahem..."

The two "fighters" stopped and stared at the Tendo Patriarch.

"Umm... sorry about that." The boy said.

"Err... here's your blade back Tendo-san." The girl said hesitantly and slowly handed the blade back to its owner.

"Would you please come it for some tea, I would personally like to know who the two of you are and why you needed our family blade."

The boy started to speak but the girl stopped him, "Certainly, we would love to."

"But we still need to-"

The girl just glared at him.

"Fine."

"Great! If you would follow me..."

********************************************************************************

"Thank you." The girl smiled and nodded politely as Kasumi handed her a cup of tea while the boy just grunted.

"Now if yo-"

"I'M HOME!"

"Don't need to shout you know Akane."

Kasumi smiled pleasantly as her two sisters walked into the living room. "Welcome back."

"Why are you back so early?" Soun frowned.

"Oh, school was canceled because of that giant fox thingy destroyed the school field."

Nabiki looked at the two new faces in their house and notice the young man, who is wearing a cape that is pure black except for the silver border at the bottom of the cape, started to sweat at the mention of the "giant fox thingy"

"Who might those two me." 

"Oh they were about to tell us." Kasumi replied and led her two sisters to the table.

"As I was saying, would you like to introduce yourself." Soun said gesturing to his guests.

The girl sighed and took a drink from her cup, "I'm Kikori Sekihari... I was sent to here to get to Long Sen Dao to finish a mission I was sent to do."

"Ahh, I see... so I guess that your mission was successful."

"Well you don't see a giant fox wannabe running around anymore right." Kikori smirked and her companion just glared at her.

"And you young man?"

The young man blinked, "Err... I'm... I'm Ranma Saotome, the only surviving member of the Saotome School of Anything goes martial arts. And I guess I'm Kikori's partner."

Soun did a gasped, "Saotome?"

Ranma starts to sweat as Soun starts to leer at him.

"Yes... I see a resemblance to Nodoka."

"You knew my mother?" Ranma frowned.

"Yes sh-"

"Yes I know," Ranma looked down at his cup of tea, "Don't need to tell me."

The room went silent for a few minutes.

"Well we shouldn't be bothering you any longer Tendo-san." Kikori said friendly, "We should be going now."

"Won't you stay for dinner." Kasumi asked.

"That's quite all right," Kikori replied, "we really should be going, who knows, we might see each other another time."

Ranma stood up quickly and bowed towards Soun and Kasumi lead him to the front door.

"I'm sorry for my partners lack of manners, but he's not too good with people." Kikori said apologetically.

"No worries young lady, I hope we will meet at a later date."

********************************************************************************

Kikori jogged a little to catch up with Ranma, "What the hell was that!"

"Whaddaya mean?"

"I mean sure you're a jerk, but you're usually not like that." Kikori stated.

"..."

"Ranma..." Kikori sighed, "It's about that Soun guy talking about your family isn't it?"

"..."

"What do you have against your past anyways." She sighed again.

Ranma just replied with a low growl.

"Fine... be that way." Kikori "Hmphed" and pulled out a cell phone from her cape and pressed the quick dial.

Ranma kept pace with Kikori as she talked into her cell phone.

****

Heh, tons of different spells can be cast and not one of them can get ya to talk to someone overseas... sheesh Magic is SO over rated sometimes

"Ranma, we don't have a vacation yet."

Ranma sighed disappointed.

"The good news is, we don't need to travel anywhere."

"Huh?" 

"We're suppose to set up something here so we can have a permanent site in this town." Kikori explained.

"Why in this town? And how long?"

"Well we're going to have to live here for at least one year and we're going to have financial support from the tower for one month, then we're on our own." Kikori said, "As for the why, he just told us to sit and wait and maybe have one of our lover's spats."

Ranma chuckled, "Landal?"

"Who else." Kikori sighed, "I hate him sometimes."

********************************************************************************

"I've commanded Ranma and Kikori to set up a permanent safe house for the mage tower in Nerima, Elder." 

"Good job Landal."

"Thank you Elder."

"Now, we just need to sit tight and let the winds of destiny carry us."

Landal frowned, "But don't you think putting Ranma there is a bit unwise, he may disrupt your plans."

"The Saotome boy will not disrupt my plan."

"But Elder, he-"

"Yes I know, I was there remember..."

"Do you think we did the right thing?"

"No... I don't."

The two sighed in unison and watched the moon shine it's light on to earth through the window of the room.

"We can only hope this works."

"If this works, we won't need to worry about a single thing."

"Hope you are right Elder."

********************************************************************************

"You should relax Ki-chan, after all, we have one month of unlimited cash, we should have fun with it." Ranma said with a roguish grin.

"And might I remind you what happened the last time we went along with your plan to 'have fun' with our 'unlimited cash'." Kikori said.

"Stuck up." Ranma muttered, "Anyways, like ya said, we have to live here for a while right?"

The green haired girl nodded and gave Ranma a cautious look.

"So we should, errr, blend in." 

Kikori looked and Ranma and raised her eyebrows, "And what do you suggest?"

"I say we go to school!" Ranma said proudly.

"You just want an excuse not to work." Kikori sighed and pulled out a real estate pamphlet, "Anyways, what's the point of going to school, I mean we learned all the things up to high school in the mage tower."

Ranma shivered, "Don't remind me."

Kikori hide a smile, "Well we still need to find a address so we can sign up for school."

The pig-tailed boy grinned, "I KNEW you'd see it my way."

Kikori shook her head, "Only for one month, we can get some customers by going to school for our new shop."

Ranma made a face, "Shop... PLEASE tell me we're not goin' for the mysterious magic shop idea again."

The girl shrugged, "Not like you can think of an better idea."

Ranma sighed in defeat, "Guess ya right."

"Well look at it this way," Kikori said as she flicked the pamphlet towards Ranma who caught it, "At least we get a discount for buying that one."

Ranma stared at Kikori as if she grew another head, "We have an unlimited budget and ya concerned about the price?"

"The Beijing incident." Kikori said wiry.

"Never mind." Ranma said sheepishly.

"You know what's the best part of the deal is with that building?" Kikori said.

"What?"

"We can get it right now."

"Huh?"

The green haired girl just smirked, "Unlike SOME people, I actually plan ahead. This afternoon, while your were busy stuffing your face with food, I made a few calls and made a deal with the owner of the building, he's agreed to let us live in the house today given that they are still IN the house."

"So we'll be living in the guest room huh?"

"Nope, I am living in the guest room, YOU are sleeping on the sofa."

"Oh come on, we slept in the same sleeping bag before, why can't I sleep in the same room as you." Ranma reasoned.

Kikori blushed, "We did that when we we're kids training in the mage tower, that's different."

Ranma sighed, "Fine, be that way."

"Well we're here." Kikori said as the two stood in front of the house.

"Not too shabby." Ranma whistled.

"Well let's go in." Kikori yawned, "I need some sleep."

Ranma yawned as well, "Me too, So ya wanna take the left side or the right side?"

Kikori rolled her eyes, "YOU are going to take the living room."

"Stuck up."

"I heard that."

********************************************************************************

Ranma stared at the ceiling of the living room, **Tendos... they knew my family... I wonder how.** He twisted to his side and looked out the window of the living room. **Mother... Father... Sis... I miss you. Soon, I'll make you all proud of me; I won't fail you again sis,**

"And fate shall come greet you with open arms, then you will know what happiness truly is." Ranma whispered to himself, "Damn prophets... you HAVE to bring my hopes up before... Damn you."

Ranma sighed and closed his eyes, "Sleep never comes easy when I want it to, but sleep always find me when I think."

********************************************************************************

Kikori wearing a white T-shirt that goes right to her knees, stood in the hallway with only the moonlight, which landed on her tan skin, illuminated the house, "And fate shall come greet you with open arms, then you will know what happiness truly is." Kikori repeated, "Who are you really Ranma, why would the prophets speak to you?"

****

Heh, I knew him since we were 9 and he is still a mystery to me. Kikori shook her head and sighed. **I hope he doesn't have nightmares tonight**

"daddy... sis? mother? where are you?"

Kikori walked up to the sleeping Ranma. Letting out a staggering breath, she placed her small hands on Ranma's head. "Shhh, it's ok Rammie, I'm here, don't cry."

Ranma smiled, "Thank you, I won't cry if you're with me."

"That's good." Kikori smiled, "Good night Rammie."

"G'nite" Ranma muttered before falling back into deep slumber.

****

Nightmares always seem to find him... I wish... I wish they would stop.

"All dreams have a meaning, doesn't matter if it's of the present, future or past, they always mean something, and that meaning, only the dreamer may know." Kikori recited, "Does this mean that Ranma will never find happiness?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi people, this is my first attempt at a Ranma fic and I'm starting off with an alternate universe fic! Personally I think they are easier to write cuz I dun need to follow canon and I can add characters and change personalities to my preference MWAHAHAH! Actually, I kinda like the canon Ranma for some reason so I'll try not to change him too much, but unlike the canon Ranma that seem to continuously put his foot in his mouth and have a continuous macho attitude. My Ranma will have a dark undertone to him. As you might tell, Ranma has a dark pass with his family that is yet to be revealed (and I won't be revealing his past for quite a while, and even if people don't like this fic, I'll continue writing it because I feel that this will be one of my best... hopefully -,-).

Any comments, flames, and other stuff will be appreciated, if you have flames PLEASE send them via e-mail, if you have tips on how to make Ranma more like the original, e-mail me too! Other comments about this fic, just put them wherever u like ^^;. One more note, I need a title for this fic... anyone have a idea? ^^.

****

New upload updates

Just used another format for it, not much of a big change except for the beginning scene and some added description of Kikori ^^

Disclaimer: I dun owe anything that is related to Ranma ½ I own all the characters that I create so you can't sue me for that! HA!


	2. Chapter 2

"Ya know that we're goin' ta probably get inta trouble right?"

"Yep."

"And ya DO realize that this is probably gonna bore ya to death right?"

"Yep."

"So why are ya goin ta do this again Kikori?"

The green haired girl grinned, "Well, I'm still a teen you know, and you know what they say, all work and no play..."

Ranma smirked, "And here I thought you were a stuck up prissy girl, I guess I was wrong ne?"

Kikori's eye twitched, "Care to say that again?"

"Well at least now I know that ya actually act ya age." Ranma gave his partner a roguish grin.

"I just hope the tower doesn't mind us blowing our cover." Kikori said with a small smile.

"Ah come on," Ranma said, keeping his grin, "is not like we've not blown our cover before, and we're still doing fine ne?"

"The Kure incident..." Kikori replied with a blush.

"Oh... that..." Ranma blushed as well.

"Baka, some of the others are still talking about me being a dancer!" Kikori said through her blush.

"Well, it's not my fault that the guy figured ya out!"

"Didn't we agreed not to talk about this." 

"You started it."

"Fine."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act 1

Chapter 2

The ever educational school system

"Those two that came to our house on Saturday, I still say something is off about them." Akane said while walking to school with her sister.

"How so?"

"The girl was fine, she's all polite and stuff, it's that guy that has me worried." Akane said with a frown, "I mean he ignored father all together!"

Nabiki sighed, "You're just saying that because you have a grudge against guys."

"Hmph, not my fault all boys are perverts." 

"That's not what you say about Doc Tofu." Nabiki grinned.

"That's because he's a MAN not a boy."

"That's your opinion." Nabiki shrugged, "Anyways, I need to get to school a bit faster, see you later sis."

Akane watched as her sister jogged towards the school until she disappeared from her sight, "I wish something would happen to break the routine at school..."

***********************************************************************

"And who might you be my green haired goddess."

Akane blanched and rushed towards Furinkin to stop the 'Shooting Star' of Furinkin manages to harass a new student.

"I'm Kikori Sekihara Kunou-san."

"Ah, such beauty, such elegance! I MUST DATE THEE!" Kunou said doing his 'heroic' pose.

"Ahem"

Akane turned her attention to the pig-tailed boy

Hey, he's the rude guy from Saturday!

"Can't thou seeth that I am asking the beauteous Kikori to date with me!"

"Yeah, I can see that ya harassing my partner." The boy said sarcastically.

**Wow, he must have guts to say that to Kunou... wait, he said he was a martial artist! Oh no! he's going to fight Kunou! I've got to stop him!**

"But anyways, I guess I'll just leave Kikori to answer ya question, it's non of my concern really."

"Hmph, where were we my-" Kunou stopped and looked around, "Where is my green haired goddess!"

Akane let out a small giggle as she realizes that the boy said all that so that the girl, Kikori, can go into school.

"Well looks like I got my wish of something breaking my routine this morning."

**This might be a good day.**

***********************************************************************

"Class we have two new students joining us today."

Akane watched as the pair she saw on Saturday walked into her class.

"Would you introduce yourselves."

"I'm Kikori Sekihara."

"Ranma Saotome." The boy said nodding to the class a bit.

"We've been traveling around China and Japan for a few years to do some things and basically we're just going to stay here for a year or so." Kikori said. "And we're going to open a shop, so if you like come in to look around when it's open."

"Yeah, just don't touch anything you don't know what it's for." Ranma added with a snicker.

"Well... that's nice..." The teacher said, a bit unsure of how to react, "Umm Saotome-san, Sekihara-san, please take those sits over there."

The pair nodded and took their seats.

**I wonder how good a martial artist that Ranma guy is.**

"Now would you please turn to page 245 in your math text book, we will be studying geometry today..."

**Great... more triangles and circles...**

***********************************************************************

"Wow, this must be the most uneventful day we've had around people for ages." Ranma remarked.

"If you don't count that Kunou guy hitting on me." Kikori shivered. "I mean how can someone be so... self centered."

"Well if ya ask m-"

"PEASENT! HOW DARE YOU INTERUPT MY CONVERSTATION WITH THE GREEN HAIRED GODDESS! HAVE AT THEE!" Kunou finished with a strike of his bouken, which Ranma dodged.

"I do have a name you know." Kikori said rolling here eyes.

"I don't need to dare Kunou." Ranma replied as he continues to dodge his opponent's strikes.

"You shall address me as SEMPAI! For I am the rising star of the Kendo team! My peers know me as The Blue Thunder of Furinkin! Takiwaki Kunou, Age 17." Kunou finished as he raised his bouken up in the air.

Ranma blinked, "Umm... is it OK if I don't have a long title like that?"

Kunou blinked in reply.

"Yeah... anyways..." Ranma started before resuming to dodge Kunou's strikes, "Ya know, ya gettin REALLY annoying wit that stick of yours Kunou."

"You shall face the wrath of the heavens for interrupting my courting with the goddess!"

"And ye shall receive a butt kickin' of the century." Ranma said sarcastically before kicking Kunou in his mid section.

"How DARE you strike my person! You foul peasant!"

"I think this is quite enough." Kikori said standing between the two, "I think I should end this."

Kikori pointed to Ranma, "Ranma, sit, eat, let me handle this."

"Fine."

"Kunou."

"Yes my beauteous goddess of Calmness."

Kikori sweatdropped, "No I won't go out on a date with you."

"How can this be!" Kunou said with a stunned expression, "It must a job of a foul sorcerer that has trapped you in his grasp!."

"Oh great, and this guy is older than me?" Ranma shook his head and began to eat again.

"YOU! You're the cowardly sorcerer that has trapped the goddess!"

Ranma's eyes twitched, "What did you call me."

"I SAID-"

"IT WAS A RETORICAL QUESTION YOU IDIOT!" Ranma snarled.

The whole school stopped its activities as all the attention was drawn to the new student.

"You DARE insult my intellect!"

"You and me are going to have a duel, after school, here, and I'm going to humiliate you for call me a coward." Ranma spat, "Kikori, let's go. I don't want an idiot in front of me all the time."

"Great, not even one day and we blow our cover." Kikori muttered, "I'm might just feel sorry for the Kunou guy... What am I thinking."

Kunou stood and watched as the pair walked away, stunned, "I did not issue the challenge?"

***********************************************************************

"My god, did you hear! The new kid just challenged Kunou."

"Of course I heard, who hasn't!"

"Yeah Nabiki already started a betting pool on the fight."

"I placed my bet on Kunou already, he might be a doofus, but he knows how to fight!"

"Well I'm not so sure, this is the only time I've heard of that Nabiki didn't give any odds to the fight, I'm betting that even Nabiki can't guess how this fight is going to go."

Akane listened to all the gossip about the up coming fight between Ranma and Kunou.

**That boy and that girl stopped that giant fox on Saturday, and the boy is a martial artist, that means that he has to be pretty good right?**

"Hey Nabiki!"

"Akane." Nabiki nodded, "What can I do for you?"

"500 yen on Ranma."

"Wow, first bet on Ranma," Nabiki raised her eyebrows, "Why did you bet on him?"

Akane leaned forward towards her sister, "On Saturday, those two stopped the giant fox and Ranma did say he is a martial artist, which means that he's pretty good right?"

"Yes, but it should be obvious to you that he doesn't have the built." Nabiki countered.

**That's right, he doesn't have the built. Yes he's strong, but isn't strong enough to give too much.**

"Is that why your not giving out odds?" Akane said.

"One of the reasons." Nabiki admitted, "So any other reasons your betting against Kunou?"

"Just to spite him." Akane smiled.

"Thought so."

***********************************************************************

"So the foul sorcerer finally shows his face." Kunou taunted.

"So eager to get your ass kicked?" Ranma replied.

"Hmph, such confidence, you surely don't know who your dealing with."

"I KNOW who I'm dealing with Kunou, it's YOU who doesn't." Ranma gave him a mysterious smile, "Kikori, if you would, can you be the judge of this duel?"

"Gladly." Kikori whispered to Ranma before going to the between the two, "Go easy on him OK? And PLEASE don't blow our cover yet."

"No can't do Ki-chan, have to defend my honor, so have to go at least a quarter strength." Ranma whispered back.

"Great, our covers blown." Kikori moaned.

***********************************************************************

Akane sat beside her sister on her left and her friends at her right.

"So did you bet on anyone Akane?" Yuki asked.

"Yep, betted on that Ranma." Akane replied anxious to see the fight started.

"You think the new guy will win?" Yuki asked confused, "I mean he's kinda on the scrawny side, sure he has some built, but not that much."

"I did it out of spite." Akane sniffed.

"Stop talking, it's starting!" Sayuri hushed her two friends.

"There are no rules in this match other than no fatal blows, nothing that will harm the by-standers, and no damage to the builds around us. You may win by knock out or submission or making your opponent unable to defend himself. Agreed?"

The two duelers nodded.

"Right, GO!"

Kunou wasted no time before charging forward to meet his opponent while Ranma stood with his hands beside him.

"HA! So the coward realizes that it is pointless to face me! FALL!" 

"_I call forth the wind, come, GATHER!"_ Ranma thrusts his open palm towards the Kendoist. Gusts of wind swirled around Ranma as a faint circle in front of his palm appeared.

Kunou leaped into the air and brought his Bouken down.

"_RELEASE!_"

Just as Ranma said the words, a green ball appeared in front of his hands and fires off towards Kunou.

The crowd gasped as the Kendoist was thrown back to where he started.

"What manner of sorcery is this."

"Your right Kunou, this is sorcery, I am Ranma Saotome, Third Circle, Spirit mage of the tower of Kyoto. I will allow you to give up right now, or else the next blows I deal to you will be much harsher. Be warned."

**He... he's a mage!?!**

"I will not bow down to a sorcerer like you!" Kunou replied pompously as he once again charged at Ranma.

"_I call forth the barrier of souls!_" Ranma thrust his hands out, sideways, and the air in front of him shimmered.

"FALL PEASENT!" Kunou brought his bouken down, only to have it stopped by a invisible wall.

"It is obvious that you don't know what I can do with wind spirit magic." Ranma said seriously, "Let me show you."

Kunou only stared as Ranma once again begin to cast a spell.

"_Wind, you are the weapon of death!_"

Akane gasped as Ranma's hand starts to glow a pale green color, and was even more surprised when Ranma brought his hands down on a karate chop and a green crescent shaped object appeared and sliced Kunou's bouken in half.

"You don't have your weapon anymore, you lost."

Akane watched as Kunou continue to mumble

**Magic... he isn't a martial artist! He's a mage!**

***********************************************************************

"That was pointless." Ranma said stretching a bit.

"I told you. You should have just used your famous hand to hand skills." Kikori replied, "Hey, what's that?"

"What's what?" Ranma frowned.

"This." Kikori said pointing to the rip in his school uniform.

"Huh? But he didn't even touch me." Ranma frowned.

"I might be able to answer that." The two turned to see Nabiki behind them.

"Err... your Nabiki Tendo right?" Ranma said.

"Yes, and I know what happened." Nabiki said, "I'll even tell you this for free this time since you made me so much money today."

"Umm.. OK." Ranma said hesitantly.

"Kunou, despite his idiotic attitude, is quite formidable with that bouken of his, he is able to break wooden planks with just air pressure alone."

"So your saying that he gave Ranma this," Kikori said pointing to the tear, "During the fight?"

Nabiki nodded.

"Looks like he's not that much of an idiot as it seems." Ranma muttered, "Ah, it's nothing but a scratch."

"Oh really." Kikori said wiry and poked Ranma on his shoulder.

Ranma, in response, almost screamed in pain and pulled back.

"Just a scratch huh?"

"OK fine, MAYBE not just a scratch." Ranma said, "Say Nabiki, what do you mean me earning you lots of money?"

"Ohh... just a small betting pool." Nabiki said innocently.

"Right..." Ranma turned to Kikori, "hey, can you... You know."

"No."

"Oh come on, our covers blown anyways!"

Nabiki smirked, "Well actually, people just think that YOU are able to do magic, no, YOUR cover is blown, but not Kikori's."

"Ah might as well." Kikori sighed and closed her eyes.

"You should hurry Kikori, people are coming." Ranma said.

Kikori ignored him and continue to concentrate, Ranma's wound is slowly covered in a pale light as it healed.

"WOW! What did you do!" Ranma jumped as a bunch of students crowded around Ranma.

"That was amazing."

"So cool!"

"Awesome!"

"It was nothing." Ranma said scratching the base of his pigtail.

"Come on Ranma, we still need to unpack some stuff." Kikori said 'rescuing' Ranma from his 'fans'.

"Hey! Be more gentle will ya!"

***********************************************************************

A figure wearing a pure black robe stands in the middle of the room, with only a candle to light up the large area; another who is sitting on a large chair, watching a pool of water accompanies him.

The Figure standing spook to break the silence, "Not even one day and Ranma's ability is unveiled."

"What did you expect Landal? It IS Ranma we are talking about."

Landal sighed, removing the hood that covered his head, revealing his dark blue hair and red eyes, if one looked closely, you can also notice his ear is somewhat pointed at the top. "Well, he IS always the rebellious one, he even refuse to wear the traditional brown robe when he became a 5th circle mage elder."

The elder looked at Landal, "The time is near, in one year time, everything will be put into motion."

"Yes."

"I have a question for you Landal."

"Yes elder?"  


"Do you think I should install a more light in this room?"

Landal sweatdropped, "Whatever pleases you elder."

***********************************************************************

Ranma stood at the balcony of his and Kikori's place, watching the sunset.

**I can feel it, something is wrong. The council would never agree to put me on a mission like this. I can do too much to ruin whatever they have planned.**

"Ranma?"

Ranma turned to see his partner at the doorway.

"Hi."

"You seemed worried."

Ranma frowned and continue to watch the scenery.

"I don't get it, why is it that every time someone calls you a coward you go exploding like that," Kikori said, changing the subject, "it's just a taunt."

"You wouldn't understand." Ranma replied without looking at his partner.

"Then tell me, maybe I would understand." Kikori walked up beside Ranma.

"It's about my father..." Ranma said softly.

"Oh..."

  
"He taught me that a coward is below a man, a coward can not be said to be a man." Ranma replied.

"Well it's still just a word..."

Ranma gritted his teeth, "But he's right you know."

"Who?"

"Kunou, I am a coward... I'm nothin'" Ranma sighed.

"Ranma?" 

"It's my turn to cook right?" Ranma forced a smile, "Dinner will be ready soon."

"Ranma..."

**Why did I tell her, now she knows I'm a coward...**

"Ranma, your not a coward."

**That's because you dunno me.** Ranma thought to himself before saying out loud, "Thanks."

"Your welcome."

***********************************************************************

**Something is still wrong... I know it, I've got him to open up to me so that he won't put up a façade around me anymore, but he's still hiding too much.** Kikori sighed as the sound of cooking filled the house. **I wish... I wish I can know his past.**

Be careful what you wish for daughter of Magi.

Kikori snapped out of her stupor "What in the world..."

"Hey Ki-chan! Time for dinner!" Ranma called out cheerfully.

"Coming!"

**Just the wind... I'm hearing things...**

"Hey I have one question." Kikori asked with a frown, "Since when do YOU enjoy cooking, thought it was a job for women."

Ranma scratched his head and laughed nervously before retorting, "I dun enjoy cookin'! I'm just doing it cuz it's my turn!"

"Oh your sense of duty is so great." Kikori grinned and grabbed her cell phone, "Wait til Landal hears about this."

"Ohhh no ya don't!" Ranma said menacingly before leaping to grab the phone from his partner.

***********************************************************************

**Saotome... my old friend. Your son seems to have de-railed from the path of a martial artist** Soun Tendo thought as he watched the sun set from the porch of the Tendo house, **It seems our school can't be joined after all. Our dreams, dashed. But worry not Saotome, he is going to be a great mage if my senses aren't failing me. I sense a great power within him. He will be the best, as you would have wanted.**

Soun smiled, "Guess it's useless to tell my daughters of the engagement." 

"WHAT!"

Soun jumped and faced his youngest daughter.

"YOU ENGAGED US!!"

"It was just an ol-"

"Is what I'm hearing true daddy?" Nabiki said walking in, "You engaged us?"

"Oh my." Guess who this is?

"HOW CAN YOU ENGAGE US TO A PERVERT BOY!" I don't really need to explain this either.

"WAAHHHHHH MY DAUGHTERS HATE ME!"

And so, another day goes by in Nerima, with two different wails echoing through the town.

"GET BACK HERE KIKORI!!!"

"WAAHHHHHHH MY DAUGHTERS HATE ME!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I decide to end this chapter on a light side. I originally wanted to end this with the scene where Kikori was wishing to know Ranma's past, but then thinking more, ending this chapter in a dark tone would make this chapter lacking of a light mood. And that would kinda throw my whole I want to keep Ranma as it is except adding a dark undertone to it off. So there you go my second chapter ^^

In case you're wondering about the whole spirit mage 3rd circle thingy that Ranma was babbling about. Here's an explanation of magic in this world for you.

There is 6 basic class of magic users: Spirit mage (Ranma), Priest/Priestess, Channelers, Callers, Mind mage, and Imbuers.

Spirit mage aren't summoning spirits, it is broken down into 4 types, the four elements, wind, fire, water, and earth. And Ranma I feel is like the wind for obvious reasons. (Ex. His aerial combat skills from the original manga, his most deadly attack, the Hiryu Shouten Ha etc.) Spirit mages are ranked by 5 circles, fifth being an apprentice, first being total mastery. You are ranked by how well you can control the 'spirits'.

Priest/Priestess are magic users that get abilities from a certain god or goddess. Their power are only as strong as the connection you have with the god/goddess your connected to and you usually need to be a good person and don't do any bad things (that is unless you are a priest of an demon or something). Kikori in my story is a Priestess of the Goddess of healing so that is why she is sometimes stuck up. Priest/Priestess don't have rankings, but they DO need to prove themselves worthy of their good once a year.

Channelers are similar to Priests but they don't get their power from gods, they get them from land marks, animals, plants, funguses, bacteria, and other 'living' things. Obviously if your connected to a fungus, you would probably get not much power and connecting to a big mountain will get you lots of power. But in order to gain these connections, you must prove to the spirit of the thing that you can handle them. The 3 most powerful object you can bind to are: The Dragon King (If you can actually convince him to bond with you, you don't really need your channeling power, unless you convinced him without beating him), The Life Tree (A mythical tree that is hidden but is proven to exist), and a mysterious bacteria...

Callers or Summoners summon things to fight for them. But don't think that they are weak because they can only summon. They are actually the toughest fighters of all the mage class physically. Most Callers need to fight the monster/Spirit/animal in order to bond with them so they may call them in a fight. Callers are ranked by how may creatures you have bonded with. The highest Ranking caller right now is at Rank 35 (meaning he/she has bonded with 35 creatures). But also keep in mind, a high ranking for a caller doesn't mean anything, it only means that they have bonded with lots of things, but they may be something as pathetic as a dust ball spirit.

Mind mage is exactly what they sound like, they use their power of their mind. They don't have rankings and their power is mostly mysterious as in they can do lots of things, but no on knows how much they can really do. There are rumors of Mind mages that uses their power to enhance their physical abilities and use them in physical combat... that has still to be proved...

Imbuers are mages that can put magic in your everyday thing. They can make a rock into an explosive, make your chopsticks into a magic wand that cast powerful spells; they can even make your homework into a Frisbee that will chase your teacher to the ends of the world. But too bad they can't use magic directly, and putting magic into objects often take time, unless you are very powerful. Imbuers are ranked by how fast they can imbue an object with magic powers. Rank 10, as in takes a day or so, to Master, as in can imbue a small object in less than 3 minutes.

I'm going to put some of the original cast in the story as mages other than spirit mage (No, I'm not going to have Ryouga be a Earth spirit mage... that is just too cliché.). And to all the Ukyou fans, I'm sorry, she won't be in this story since Ranma didn't go on his training trip, he doesn't meet up with dear old Ucchan, and instead he has Kikori.

Like last time, I'd like some advice on how to make Ranma more Canon and hope that I can keep everyone as original as they possibly can of course with an dark undertone with Ranma -,-. So please comment on it ^^ I will greatly appreciate it.

****

New updates to chapter

Well like with the last chapter, I just did some of this and that, not even a scene change or added scene... I just don't know what to do to improve this chapter, please send some comments please ^^


	3. Chapter 3

Ranma sat in the middle a meadow in the middle of the forest, cross-legged.

**To attain a high level of mastery in the art, you must be attuned to your own body, your own mind, and your own soul.**

Ranma breathed out slowly as he continued to meditate.

**After you have reached a state of total balance, you will understand your movements so you may master the art.**

"Mind, body, and soul... All are ONE!" Ranma's eyes snapped open and like the air, he flows into an explosion of movements.

"HA! HIYA!"

**Boy! You don't do a Kata like a set of movements! You must live it! FEEL IT! Now, DO IT!**

Ranma stumbled. "Dad was right... I'm trying too hard. I always do."

The teen sighed and stared up. "Maybe I can ask Soun to help me with this. It's not Anything goes, but Soun IS a master of an art, he should be able to help me with a kata."

"RANMA! BREAKFAST!"

"COMING!"

"_Winds of truth, reveal the light_."

The meadow and the forest surrounding Ranma flickered and slowly faded to reveal the living room.

"I don't get it, why do you insist on practicing Martial arts? You should just concentrate on one art and keep to it." Kikori said shaking her head while holding to two plates of pancakes.

Ranma grinned, "I'm the best, that's why"

"Just like you to be Egotistical."

The pig-tailed boy frowned, "I am NOT Egotistical ya prissy girl!" Ranma used his fork to fork up a whole pancake and shoved it in his mouth, "I love the pancakes ya make."

Kikori kept a neutral expression, "I'll let that prissy girl comment slide this time, just because you said my pancakes are good."

"Just speaking the truth." Ranma said as he finished off the last pancake, "Hey I want to go to the Tendo's house today, wanna come?"

Kikori shook her head no, "We're getting some stuff from the mage tower for our shop."

"I wonder what junk they're sending this time." Ranma said sipping on a glass of orange juice.

"I heard they're sending in some teleportation markers and teleportation wands so we can sell them in a set."

Ranma just shook his head in wonder, "They still can't figure out why that long distance talking spell doesn't work?"

"Nope."

"Great... still need to pay for the cell phone."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act 1: Chapter 3

Everybody likes Kung-fu fighting!

Ranma yawned as he over saw the renovation of their to be magic shop in process.

"Man, just when ya think school is boring."

"Oh great the end of the world is near." Kikori said in her plain voice.

"Love ya sarcasm Kikori," Ranma yawned again, "but the world is better off wit out it."

Kikori rolled her eyes, "School is in session you know, maybe you should head over the Tendo's for that martial arts training."

Ranma grinned, "have I ever told you that I love ya Kikori?"

"No, and I don't want to know." Kikori turned away from the pig-tailed mage and walked away.

Ranma continued to grin and shook his head, "Prissy as always."

"I HEARD THAT!"

***********************************************************************

Knock Knock Knock

Kasumi blinked as she heard few knocks from the front door

**Are we expecting someone?**

KNOCK KNOCK

"COMING!" the eldest Tendo sister rushed to the front door and opened it to find Ranma with his cloak standing in front of her.

"Hi, umm, Tendo Kasumi right?"

Kasumi smiled and nodded, "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I was wondering if your father is available right now?"

"Oh my." Kasumi blinked, "Wait one moment please."

"FATHER!"

Soun walked lazily towards the front door, "What is it Kasumi?"

"Ahem" Ranma cleared his throat.

"Ah young man, what can I do for you?"

"Mr.Tendo, I... I wish... umm... I want you to help me with this set of Katas I've been working on." Ranma stuttered.

Soun frowned, "I thought you are a mage?"

Ranma frowned, "I also said I am a martial artist when we first met."

"Ah, true." Soun said thoughtfully. "Ah where are my manners, come in please."

Ranma nodded politely and followed Soun into the living room. "About the help I want."

"Yes, hmm." Soun paused in consideration for a while, "I haven't taught in a long while but I think I can help you in correcting your mistakes but that is as much as I can do until I start working out again."

Ranma smiled, "That's all I want."

***********************************************************************

"Ranma, if you are to get this Kata right, you mustn't think!" Soun said firmly, "This is one of the Katas that Anything goes is based on, I am extremely familiar with it. No practicer of Anything goes doesn't know it."

Ranma licked his dry lips and looked up to Soun, "But this is from Shao Lin all the way in China..."

Soun chuckled, "Yes, I know. This set of Katas are one of the many forms that created the original Anything goes that was created by my master." Soun shivered as he said the last word, "We just added to it making it seemingly it's own unique school not based on anything."

Ranma breathed out slowly, "Ok, let's try this again."

****

I'm going ta get it right THIS time!

Soun shook his head, "You're still trying too hard."

"But I haven't even started yet..."

Soun frowned, "That is not what matters, it's your state of mind." The Elder man walked towards Ranma and gestured for him to sit, "To practice ANY form of art, you must not think in order to perform to your potential, you must learn the movements then move with your feeling."

"But-"

"No Ranma, go to the living room and have some tea, we'll stop for now."

Ranma sighed disappointingly and walked of.

**So much like his Mother, never give up, never stop until it's perfect. Along with that the same passion for the art as his Father, if not more. It's a pity that he doesn't practice the Art in it's truest form.**

Soun sighed, "WAAAAHHHHHHHH WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GO LIKE THAT MY OLD FRIEND! WHY! WAAAAAHHHHHHHH."

"Oh my, I need to mop up the dojo again." Kasumi said and grabbed a mop from out of nowhere as Ranma sweatdropped hearing the older man bawling his eyes out.

**And I thought he's supposed to be mature, at least more mature than me...**

***********************************************************************

"I'm HOME!" 

"Welcome back Akane," Kasumi greeted her younger sister warmly, "Is Nabiki with you today?"

Akane shook her head tiredly, "Nope, she's doing something in school."  


"That's nice." Kasumi said with her ever-present smile and continued to sweep the sidewalk.

"-did you become a mage?"

"Me? I'm not too sure actually, it just happened I guess." 

**Huh? That voice... THE MAGE!**

Akane dashed towards the living room to see her father and the mage sitting on either side of the table drinking tea.

"Well, I guess I became one just like all the others, the tower saw me and sense potential and then signed me up or somethin' ya know."

"Was your-"

"My father was dead when I got picked up."

"I see... I was wondering why you even got into the tower in the first place." Soun took a sip of his tea.

**... how long has he been a mage?**

"Dad?" 

Akane's father turned his head and nodded to greet his daughter.

"Ah, Akane, I see you've return from school."

"Umm, yeah."

Akane cast a glance towards the boy, "Um, I'm going to put my stuff back in my room."

"Why don't you join us afterwards."

"Sure..."

***********************************************************************

Ranma took another sip of his tea. **This is the first time I've actually ever mentioned my family to anyone, well except for Kikori where I let slip a few times...**

"I have an idea, why don't you spar with my daughter!" Soun exclaimed.

"Huh?"

Soun smiled, "I want to see what level you are at in the Arts."

Ranma reached back and pulled at his pigtail, "Umm, that would be quite impossible..."

Soun frowned, "Why's that?"

The young mage tugged at his pigtail a bit harder and bit his lips, "Well-"

"So you think I'm not good enough for you?" Akane suddenly burst in from the stairs.

"NONONO!!! It's not that!"

"Then what is it!"

"It's just that ya can't really tell what skill I'm at 'cause if I use my style to the fullest, I'll be using magic too!"

"Well who told you to use magic!"

Ranma smirked, "I've incorporated Martial Arts into my casting of spells, and I guess you can say that if ya really want me ta spar with my full skill I would have ta use magic too since a lot of my skill does come from magic."

Soun frowned deepened, "But if you use magic, isn't that no longer sparring?"

"How do ya suppose we practice magic?" Ranma asked innocently.

"Well would you demonstrate what you can do then?" Soun asked curiously.

"Sure... why don't we go to that empty lot a few houses down."

Ranma said as he stood up.

"Ahh.. A mage in action, I've always wanted to see one." Soun smiled.

"It's not as impressive as you think." Ranma said matter-of-factly.

***********************************************************************

Akane stood as she listened to Ranma, **Incorporated Martial arts... not the other way around... he isn't a martial artist is he. But he knows it; doesn't that mean that he is one? But he isn't. So am I one?** Akane scoffed at the last thought, **Of course I am! I beat Kuno everyday, I bet I can beat him too!**

"I want to watch too!" Akane said with a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Hope I'm not starting a show with this." Ranma said outloud.

**Egotistical jerk!** Akane sniffed as she followed Ranma to where the empty lot is.

"Stay out of the lot, watch from the street ok?" Ranma warned.

"..."

Then it began. It started innocently, basic Anything goes form that Akane has learned even when she was six years old, but as she watched more closely, she noticed that not only was Ranma going through this basic kata, he was murmuring something.

**Spells, he's casting spells as he does his kata.** Ranma jumped backwards with his left palm open behind him. **Wait! That isn't part of the Ka-**

WHOOSH

A near invisible crescent shaped magical blade appeared as Ranma 'chopped' upwards with his hand which he quickly brought beside his chest with fingers pointing downwards.

**Now what?**

The pig-tailed boy did a roundhouse kick and few quick jabs with right fist and then thrusts his left palm out creating a green ball that shoots forward from his palm.

**His doing all the chanting while he's jumping around and kicking and punching!** Akane watched fascinated.

"Interesting, casting spells while doing a modified version of the basic Anything goes Kata." Soun observed.

Akane ignored her father's comments as she continue to watch the boy in the empty lot continue to move around it. Green blades and balls flew everywhere during the kata demolishing the ground and creating holes and cuts in it.

"_andisummonthe WINDS OF DEATH!_" Ranma shouted and finishes his kata with an uppercut. For a mere moment, nothing happened, but suddenly winds gather towards Ranma's fist creating a whirlwind around his whole arm. "AAAHHHHHH!" Ranma thrust his hand out towards the cement tubes on the side of the lot throwing the wind around his arm towards it.

**He, he can do that with the most basic kata...** Akane frowned, **How can I match with that?**

"Very impressive young man!" Soun congratulated Ranma, "And you did this all by yourself?"

Ranma chuckled and scratched the back of his neck nervously, "Not really, I had help from some people."

"Still very impressive, I wonder what you can do with the more advanced Katas?" Soun wondered.

Ranma shook his head, "The only spells I can cast while doing the advanced Katas are for some reason the more advanced wind spells. I guess it's because of less hand gestures and more words and concentration."

"I see, you ever tried?"

  
"Yes I have actually, but not advanced anything goes though so I wouldn't know." Ranma turned towards Akane, "Now do you see why we can't spar? We practice something completely different, while you practice the art completely; I do half-and-half. So if I we're to really spar, you'd get hurt, but if I limit myself to just martial arts moves, then I'd probably lose to you in less then twenty seconds."

Akane smiled a little, **He's got me beating him in less than twenty seconds right!**

"All right."

"Great!" Ranma smile, "After all I don't want to send you to the hospital after we really spar now would we."

Akane glared at Ranma, "you IDIOT!"

"OOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWW!"

***********************************************************************

"That voice... RANMA!" the figure grinned, "Now where is he..."

***********************************************************************

"You big baby, just one more scratch." Kikori smiled inwardly as she tended to Ranma's wounds from Akane's assault, "You should really watch what you say you know."

"It's not MY fault she can't take what I say." Ranma winced as disinfectant was applied to his wounds, "Can't you just use magic or something!"

Kikori huffed and placed her hands on her hips, "Are you saying I'm no good at this!"

Ranma gulped, "No no! You're an excellent medic! And even if ya not a priestess you'd turn into a beautiful and talented doctor!"

Kikori smiled slightly, "Just because you said I'm beautiful."

"I never said ya beautiful, I just said you'd turn beautiful if you're a doctor but now ya just gonna turn inta one of those wrinkly old priestess over at the China mage tower." Ranma said with a smirk.

Kikori growled and pressed the cotton ball harder against his scratches, "You REALLY need to learn what to say and what not to."

"Heh, with the way ya growling, I'm sure you'll turn wrinkly!" Ranma commented before Kikori hit Ranma's head.

"Shush you."

Ranma just grinned, "You know I'm getting that weird feeling again."

Kikori frowned, "You mean the one when..."

"Yep."

The green haired girl sighed, "I better get more medical supplies for later."

"You do that." Ranma said with a sigh. **Sometimes, I think Kikori knows me too well, maybe...**

***********************************************************************

"Yes, we'll be stopping school... yes I know, you just have to check Ranma and my own school records... ^Sigh^ yes yes, I know..." Kikori starts to lose control but Ranma quickly grabs the phone.

"Look, I'm from the mage tower I'm thinkin that ya know that right? Look I have the mage tower supportin me and Kikori is wit me ok? Good enough for you?" Ranma rolled his eyes, "NO I would not reconsider! YES IT IS KUNO! WHATEVER YOU WANT! JUST LET ME OUT OF THE SCHOOL!"

Kikori stared at Ranma as he slammed the phone down on its stand, "Wow that was intense."

Ranma panted and turned to Kikori with a cocky grin, "That's the way ya do it."

The green haired girl giggled, "Idiot."

"Hey!" Ranma huffed, "Well, do ya want to be the cashier this time?"

Kikori thought for a moment, "No thanks, I've had enough people hitting on me the last time we did this."

Ranma grinned and said in a deep voice, "Oh why don't you cast a love spell on me and we can go to my place and you know."

Kikori blushed and replied in a shrilly voice, "Oh you can use those unbreakable rope on me anytime."

"Maybe we should stop." Ranma said turning the TV on.

Kikori nodded and sat on the couch by Ranma, "Have you ever thought that we've been together for too long?"

Ranma turned his head and shrug, "I dunno, the old men upstairs doesn't disagree."

"Don't talk about the elders like that." 

"Hey, I'm just tellin' the truth." Ranma slumped down, "Ya know, come to think about it, all the other mages switch partners from time to time, we're the only ones that haven't been switched for over five years. That's not counting the years in the tower we trained together and the odd ball third partner that we get once in a while."

Kikori eye's widen, "Your right... I wonder why?

Kikori sat in silence, **Ranma's right... why hasn't the Council gave me and Ranma another partner?**

"Hey Ranma."

"Shhhh! I'm trying to watch the show." Ranma waved his hand at Kikori's face as he continues to watch the television.

Kikori sighed, **I'll ask another time.**

"Stupid commercials, is there a TV god Kikori?" Ranma asked, "If there is, is there any chance if ya can be convertin'?"

Kikori glared at Ranma, "Are you sure you want that Ranma? I mean who would heal you every time you get into trouble?"

Ranma whimpered under the Kikori glare of fury.

"That's what I thought." Kikori grabbed the control and switched to a show she likes.

"HEY! I was watching that!" Ranma reached for the remote.

"RANMA! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE!"

Ranma froze.

Kikori froze.

"Didja hear what I heard?"

Kikori nodded.

"That's what I thought." Ranma turned his head slowly towards the window.

"RANMA! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!"

"Well here goes." Ranma shrugged and headed towards the front door.

Kikori took a first aid kit and looked through it's content, "Looks like another day of using magic, goddess, forgive me for using your power like this."

***********************************************************************

"RANMAAAAAA!"

"RYOGAAAAAA!"

The two boys grinned from ear to ear before shouting together, "PREPARE TO GET BEATEN TO OBLIVION!" before jumping towards each other.

******* Half an hour later *******

"I don't get why you two have to beat each other senseless each time you see." Kikori sighed as she prepared to cast another spell.

Ryoga, who is sitting beside a bruised up Ranma was preparing to be healed by Priestess, winced as Kikori checked over his cuts for infection, "We just do it because it's fun and I need to show Ranma who's the best!"

Ranma snorted, "Yeah right, then how come every time I beat you?"

Ryoga just grinned, "That's 'cause you have her!"

Ranma frowned, "I'm going to get a drink."

"You're not going anywhere before I heal you Ranma!" Kikori said, "Now stay quiet so I can call my goddess for help."

"Fine."

***********************************************************************

"So I guess your going to challenge me to a duel?" Ranma said matter of factly as he and Ryoga sat on the roof of the house.

"Yep."

"Why don't ya stay around, you can help around in the shop." 

Ryoga thought for a moment, "Really? Thanks."

Ranma smiled, "Great!"

"Well I'm going to sleep and we'll open the shop tomorrow."

Ranma snickered, "In case ya haven't noticed, the shop won't be opened until three days later, it's still under renovation."

Ryoga blushed, "Well, I didn't noticed."

Ranma watched as Ryoga jumped from the roof and entered the house, **I'll beat him this time... without her!**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well and that is chapter three and the appearance of Ryoga! What kinda mage is he going to be? Well you can find out next chapter. For those of you who are wondering about why Ranma and Ryoga are friendly with one another, you'll find out soon enough. And finally! Who is this 'her' that Ryoga said that helped Ranma in his fights so much! Well you won't find out till later.

Anyway enough of story promoting, this chapter I'm going for a lighter tone and I'm also revealing Ranma's competitive side and his stubborn side just to keep him Ranma and not some author enhanced Ranma that knows how to handle all situations. But unlike the canon Ranma, he does know how to compliment people even if he doesn't really like them, but only if it's true. Of course Kikori is a special cast because he's been with her for quite a while and you can say there are closer than normal friends are... (Well after few life-threatening episodes with a person, even if they hate the other person, they'll at least trust each other.)

As for Akane, I really don't know how to portrait her. In the Manga, she's always extremely competitive and if a person insults her even slightly, even if it's someone that she doesn't know well, she'll still go in an angry blaze. But she's not a complete violent maniac... I'm just confused about her, so if you have comments on her behavior I'll be glad to accept even if it's a flame saying I have Akane all wrong

-,-

Then of course there's Ryoga. Personally, I have NO idea what he would be like if he were nice to Ranma. Sure there are fics out there where Ryoga and Ranma is all buddy buddy, but I don't want to copy them. I want this Ryoga to be unique so I'm changing Ranma and Ryoga's relationship a bit. I hope it's a unique change (well with all the Ranma fics out there, I seriously doubt that...) but you'll see their relationship in the next few chapters.

Hopefully I'm doing a good job keeping Ranma Ranma. I just hate to change a character for no reason at all. Unless I really don't like them and want to bash them =p Back to my point, any comments? Suggestion? (No pairing suggestion please, I have pairings in mind already so please, don't make my life hard and all and beg for R/A or R/S or R/U or R/K (take that 'K' as whoever you want) or whatever!) Or Flames? Please e-mail me or put them on the review! 

Final thing, I'd like to thank the people that has given me suggestions on my writing! THANK YOU! Please keep reading and reviewing if you like it and I'll keep writing even if no one reads it ^^


	4. Chapter 4

The trio of new arrivals to Nerima sighed as they stood in front of the store named 'Mystical dimension'.

"Wow, you guys actually got a name for the store that sounds half decent." Ryoga said matter-of-factly.

"Shut up Ryoga." Ranma glared.

"You're just mad because you didn't come up with this name." Kikori said.

Ranma growled.

"So did he made the names for all the other store?" Ryoga asked.

"Yep."

Ranma's head drooped, "Guys... can you PLEASE drop the subject."

"I'll definitely not have him name anything after knowing this." Ryoga smirked, "After all, I don't want to be laughed at for someone else's blunder."

Kikori nodded, "I should've named these stores myself a long time ago."

Kikori looked around hearing the lack of protest from Ranma, "Hey, where did Ranma go?"

Ryoga shrugged, "I dunno."

"He'll be back for lunch." Kikori shrugged.

"You want me to find him?" Ryoga suggested.

The green haired girl gasped and immediately grabbed Ryoga and pulled him in to the shop, "Umm... hehe, maybe you should stay here and watch the people unpack just in case some of them does something."

Ryoga scratched his head and frowned, "Umm, ok. If you say so."

****

Whew, problem thwarted

"Now, where is that Ranma..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act 1: Chapter 4

Small businesses, Big headaches...

Ranma stared at the sky as the wind blew the clouds over him across it.

**Why am I even here? Why don't I just walk off and be off with all this? Why do I even want to reach 2nd circle?**

The pigtailed boy sighed "Stupid council..."

"RANMA! I KNOW YOU'RE HERE SOMEWHERE! COME OUT!"

"Damn, Kikori's here." Ranma's body slowly rights itself and looks around him, "Love this flying spell, the best thing is Kikori still hasn't figured out that I can use it so easily."

"RANMA!"

**Gotta get out of here!**

***********************************************************************

"Stupid Ranma..." Kikori huffed, "That's the last time I count on him to help me put up fli-"

Kikori stopped when she saw the fliers she readied posted on the bulletin board in front of her with a seemingly blank piece of paper on the bottom right corner of it. 

**Magic...**

Kikori looked around to see if anyone is around before reaching for her pendent, "_Goddess of healing, aid me in the reading of the hidden._"

The pendent glowed light blue and shone a beam of light onto the piece of paper. Words slowly appear on the piece of paper.

**__**

If ya think I was slackin' off, you better think again Ki-chan. You should really lighten up ya prissy girl. Ranma, your talented and handsome partner.

The young priestess's eye twitched slightly before grabbing the piece of paper and crumpled it into a ball.

"I have NO idea why the council would put me with him, are they trying to kill me off by annoying me to death."  


***********************************************************************

"Just put that box over there." Kikori pointed towards the storage room and looked at the inventory the mage tower sent, "So what do we have this time?"

The man walked out from the storage room, after putting all the magic stuff in, sighed before replying.

"Well, to tell the truth, I think they just give the really useless stuff that us imbuers can make in a second," the man thought for a moment, "Well except for the teleport marker and remote, and that bag with unlimited space."

"So they just send us the usual stuff?"

"Yep, taser sticks, paper candle, gum tracer, oh and my personal favorite, float ward."

"Well, I guess that's everything," Kikori said after scanning the inventory, "Thanks again Sodara."

Sodara winked and said, "Just doing my job ma'am." Before pulling out a remote and opened and portal and stepped in.

"Now I hope Ryoga didn't wander off again."

"What was that about me?" 

"AH!" Kikori jumped, "Don't scary me like that!"

"Hmm, I was sure I went into the storage room, but then I ended up in the washroom, then now I'm here." Ryoga scratched his head, "I think there's something seriously wrong with this shop."

Kikori smiled, "No, it's just you."  


"Not YOU too." Ryoga groaned in defeat, "My sense of direction CAN'T be THAT bad."

"Trust me, it is." Kikori said and pulled out a teleport marker and remote from a nearby box, "Here, this way you can come here anytime you like."

Ryoga stared at the items Kikori held, "How come I've never thought of that?"

***********************************************************************

****

The casting of spell is very delicate. If you do not concentrate, it will fail, if you think the wrong thoughts, it will fail. But if you say the wrong words, it won't fail, the problem is, can you concentrate without saying the words?

"Can I concentrate without saying the words..." Ranma mumbled as he posted another flier on a telephone pole.

****

What is MORE important is that you must learn to wield the power that the spirits give you. If you can only cast spells from the spell book, you are not a true mage. Likewise, if you can ONLY cast spells with your mind only, you are NOT a true mage. A true mage must be able to follow AND create instructions.

Ranma sighed, "Instructions to reach 2nd circle. MAN those old men really don't want me to reach 2nd circle do they."

The pig-tailed mage/martial artist sullenly walked in a zombie-like state.

****

The worst part is, I don't think... No... must NOT think like that...ARGH why am I think of this again.

"THERE YOU ARE!" Ranma turned around to see Kikori panting and clutching her chest.

"You should work out more Kikori." Ranma stated, "Build up endurance ya know!"

Kikori glared at Ranma, "Well the shop is going to open tomorrow and I want you to actually KNOW where everything is before we open up."

Ranma smiled and said softly, "Dun worry about me, ya look tired, get some rest OK?"

***********************************************************************

Kikori blinked and stared at Ranma, **...**

"Hey Kikori, you OK?"

"..."

"Kikori?" Ranma waved his hand in front of her face.

"umm..."

"Are you OK?"

The green haired priestess cleared her mind, **What happened, why did I...**

"I'm fine... I think." Kikori replied slowly.

"You should rest Ki-chan." Ranma whispered to Kikori's ears as he lead her back to the "Mystical Dimension".

****

This Ranma... is this the REAL Ranma? Kikori pondered as she was guided carefully by Ranma with his arm wrapped around her waist, **This is the sixth time he's been like this ever since I knew him. Is the Ranma I think I know nothing but an illusion?**

Kikori once again look upon Ranma's calm visage, **...**

***********************************************************************

"Hey Ryoga! We're back!" Ranma yelled as he carried a sleeping Kikori into the shop.

"Where have you been!" Ryoga growled, "You KNOW I can't run this place by myself! I already used up the charges in the Teleport controller just to stay in this place today!"

Ranma raised an eyebrow, "Ya betta not waste all of 'em."

"Yeah." Ryoga turned his attention to Kikori, "What happened to her?"

"Ran herself to exhaustion after casting a spell." Ranma replied with a shrug, "So ya think ya can hold up this shop for a few more moments?"

"Just as long as you come back quickly." Ryoga said as he continue to put items on the shelves, "Oh yeah, this month's magi mag came in, where do you want them?"

"Magi mag?" Ranma asked.

"You know, that weird magazine with all the latest magic news." Ryoga chuckled.

"Ohh, ya mean the one Ludandai always talks about?" Ranma shook his head, "I really need to put her to bed. She's pretty heavy ya know."

"Your lucky she's asleep, or else you won't be able to fight me in that duel." Ryoga grinned showing his fangs.

"Feh, you won't be THAT lucky." Ranma retorted as he went up the stairs.

Ryoga watched Ranma walk up the stairs, "God... what's WITH those two, one minute their at each other's throats, the next, they'll be all mushy and stuff."

A cold breeze blew into the shop, "Creepy..."

***********************************************************************

Kikori groaned as she was laid on to her bed, "Ranma?"

Ranma smiled, "Hey, how ya doin?"

"Just tired."

"You should really try not ta tired yourself, ya know how badly it taxes on a person's body after ya cast a spell." 

The girl sighed, "I don't know what's wrong. It's like I don't have the will power to keep going really far after I cast a spell." Kikori looked towards the ceiling, "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothin's wrong wit ya, just relax." Ranma grinned, "Your too stuck up, maybe THAT'S why."

Kikori stuck out her tongue at Ranma, "I'll show you stuck up."

The pigtailed mage chuckled, "Now that's the Ki-chan I know."

"Well, one of us have to be serious." Kikori said sadly.

"No, we just need to follow our heart." Ranma replied as he headed to the door, only to be stopped by Kikori.

"But how do you know your heart will lead you to your destiny?"

Ranma stood at the doorway in silence, "If it doesn't, it would be my fault."

The priestess pushed herself up and sat the her bed, "Ranma..."

"Get some rest, tomorrow is gonna be a long day."

"...don't destroy the shop before it opens." 

"Kikori..." Ranma replied annoyingly before heading downstairs to the shop.

***********************************************************************

"How is she?" Ryoga asked off-handedly while sitting at the counter.

"Ya know her, she'll be ok in a bit." Ranma replied tiredly.

"How are you?" The fanged boy studied Ranma, "You look tired enough to sleep for a whole week."

Ranma sighed, "Like Kikori once said, she's the brain and I'm the brawl of this team. One of us has ta be tough enough ta stay awake when we're tired."

"And who's going to catch YOU when you drop?"

"Either you'd wander in or Kikori would know what ta do." Ranma grinned arrogantly, "Besides, there isn'ta THING in this world that could drop me!"

"Oh yeah?" Ryoga smirked, "What about me?"

"Ya couldn't touch me if I went full out!" Ranma retorted.

"In your dreams Saotome."

***********************************************************************

"This is the biggest crowd yet for the open of the shops we've ever opened." Ranma remarked after taking a glance out the front door.

"Well, considering how weird this town is compared to others, I'd say they have a reason to come." Kikori noted.

"We'll, it's time," Ranma let out a breath, "let's get this shop open."

Ranma gave his rival a nod an the pushed the front doors open at the same time revealing a large lineup of people waiting to go into the shop.

"Wow, that's a lot of people." Ryoga stared at the amount of people walking into the shop.

"Ryoga, just stay at the counter and work as a cashier please." Ranma grinned, "we don't wanna lose you like the last time ya helped out."

"I'm NOT that bad!!"

"That's NOT the counter Ryoga."

***********************************************************************

"What's a taser stick?"

"I dunno, looks like a normal stick to me."

"Well I THINK it's a taser guys, I mean it IS called a 'taser' stick."

Kikori walked over the girls who is studying the 'sticks', "Can I help you with anything?"

The first girl points the stick at Kikori, "What's this?"

Kikori took a step back, "Careful where you point that stick!"

The girls looked confused and looked at the stick.

"Here let me show you what it does." Kikori smiled sweetly, "RANMA!"

A moment later Ranma appears beside the green haired girl and gave his 'I'm a hard worker' smile, "What's up?"

"AH!" Kikori jumped and pokes the stick at Ranma, electricity flowed from the stick into Ranma's body causing Ranma's hair to stick up and giving him a shock. Which also caused the three girls to stared at the pair of mages showing off their merchandise.

"DON'T DO THAT!" Ranma yelled after Kikori removed the stick, "And don't tell me I caught ya by surprise 'cause I KNOW ya know I was beside ya!"

"Well I needed to demonstrate what the stick does." Kikori smiled.

"Thanks for the demo." The girls said before taking a pack of them and headed towards another part of the store.

"I'll get ya for this!" Ranma glared.

  
"'Scuse me! Can someone help me?"

"Well you heard the call Ranma, you better go." 

"Yeah yeah."

***********************************************************************

Ranma stood in front of the 'Mystical dimension' sweeping the ground and enjoying the sunset from where he stood.

****

That was quite a day Ranma rubbed his arm, **I havta request for the mage tower to quit sendin' those sticks over! I'm getting hurt from Kikori more 'cause of those things compared to the renegade mages we've been dealing wit!**

"Ranma are you done sweeping?" Kikori said from the apartment above the store.

"Yeah I'm done." Ranma replied.  


"Well come up here, we're celebrating for a good start of this store!" Kikori said cheerfully.

"Comin' right up!"

"_The wind is my walkway._" The air in front of Ranma turns foggy. Seeing his spell working Ranma walks towards the foggy air and jumps up towards the window. The area with the fog seems to have less gravity but in reality, it has just turned denser so that you can 'swim' through the air.

"You look like some character from Chinese kung fu movies." Ryoga said with a smirk, "Not that I can't do that even without that spell of yours."

Ranma just snorted, "Not MY fault we're not ALL super human like ya."

"Guys, stop arguing like a couple." Kikori said keeping a serious expression, "Anyway, I just want to say that this is the best store we've open since the first time and hopefully it's going to stay this way so that we can at LEAST stay in budget for 6 months."

"Well don't worry about me," Ryoga said with a shrug, "I'm only here till I have my duel with Ranma then I'm outta here."

"Why can't you stay?" Kikori asked, Ranma also gave Ryoga a curious look.

"I like traveling." Ryoga said plainly, "Sure having a home is great and all, but ultimately, I like traveling better."

"I'd havta say I agree wit Ryoga there." Ranma said with a knowing nod, "It's great to have a bed, but it's better to sleep underneath the stars."

"I will NEVER get what goes on inside you two's heads." Kikori shook her head while rubbing her temples.

"Pray that you NEVER know what's inside Ranma's." Ryoga joked with a grin, in which Kikori giggled at.

But on one that night noticed a sullen expression on Ranma's face as Ryoga said his joke...

***********************************************************************

****

I never realize that I really don't want to have people know what is going on in my head... Ranma stared at the stars as he laid on the roof of their temporary home, **Actually, I think Kikori knows too much already, and she still thinks she should know more, what's WITH girls!**

Ranma let out a frustrated sigh, "_Forces of wind, spirit of nature. Gather upon my hand._"

A gentle breeze blew from all direction towards Ranma gathering where Ranma has cupped his hands together. A white glow lit up the dark rooftops of Nerima and Ranma stared at the glowing white orb.

***********************************************************************

Kikori watched from the 'backyard', which is actually more of a thin strip of grass behind the store and their home. She watched as Ranma called forth the orb and whispered into it, as if to tell it his greatest secret.

"He's going to kill himself one day." Kikori whispered sadly to herself, "So much pain, just like the boy I've meet years ago. It's like he's slowly turning back to his depressed self ever since he came to Nerima. Is it because of the Tendos?"

The priestess went back into her room and stared at the ceiling, **Maybe THAT'S why the tower won't give Ranma a different partner.**

Sleep came slowly to the priestess. It eluded the girl long enough to hear her door creak open a bit, then closed again a moment later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A bit shorter than the last chapter, mostly because of the fact that there isn't a real event happening in this chapter, just the opening of the shop and some humor scenes (Ok, so MAYBE it isn't THAT funny, but still... I'm working on it! REALLY HONEST!)

I wanted to introduce the darker side of Ranma in this chapter also. You might think, but you already did that in the first and second chapter! Well I didn't REALLY do that, I just introduced the idea of Ranma's dark side. This Chapter I FORMALLY showed the dark side of Ranma and one can see that his arrogant self is just a side of him he brought out to act as a façade of his. Also I added some scenes with Ranma/Kikori interaction. It's hard to say if it's brotherly and sisterly relationship from the scene, but you'll find out later in the story (if you keep reading -,-) what it REALLY is.

That's about it for this chapter, hope you enjoyed it and hopefully you'll keep reading cuz I really like to have input on this story.

Finally the next chapter is where I reveal what type of mage Ryoga is (Of course if you read my description of the different type of mages in the second chapter notes, you'd know right away.) and also who 'SHE' is! So till next time, cya!


	5. Chapter 5

Ranma smiled politely which faded quickly as the customer walked out of the store.

"Stupid Kikori, stupid taser sticks, stupid... everything!" Ranma muttered as he walked towards the back of the store, "Why does she HAVE to test them on me! Why not Ryoga!"

Ranma rubbed his arm where the sticks shocked him, "If this keeps up, I won't be able to even stand up when me and Ryoga have that duel."

"What was that Ranma?" Ranma jumped to see Nabiki watching him putting things on the shelves.

"Nothin'"

"What was that about a duel I heard?" 

"Oh that," Ranma shrugged, "me and Ryoga are kinda like rivals, so whenever we see each other, we have duels to see who has improved more since the last time we saw."

"So, when is this duel?" Nabiki's mind whirled at the millions of money-making schemes that pop up in her head.

"Tomorrow afternoon at 1 or something" Ranma grunted as he lifted another box from the storage into the main store.

"Wow, what do you have there?" Nabiki asked changing the subject to avoid being suspicious.

"Oh just some new stock we have," Ranma grinned, "The AMAZING wand of random surprises!"

Nabiki gave Ranma a 'what do you take me for' look, "Right."

"Really! I'm serious!" Ranma defended, "Watch!"

Ranma takes out a wand and waves it in the air, "Just wait for a second or two."

POOF!

A cloud of sparkles obscured the view but Nabiki saw a very small shadow behind the cloud.

"What the..." The Tendo peered into the cloud concentrating more on the shadow to see...

...A flying pixie doll

"See!" Ranma said proudly.

"That doesn't prove anything you know." Nabiki said, "It just proves that it can make flying pixie dolls."

Ranma smirked, "Well, if you REALLY want to find out if it makes random stuff, you'll have to buy one."

Nabiki thought for a moment, "What are the chances that it make a brand new lab top computer?"

Ranma raised an eyebrow, "You'll have to ask Kikori for the chances, I just like the thing."

Ranma grabbed the pixie doll from the air, "Well, another magic doll to add to Kikori's collection."

Nabiki stared at Ranma, "Her collection or yours?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act 1: Chapter 5

Ranma's talents...

A figure stood at the docks of Japan. The night sky filled with stars seems to welcome the figure.

"Hmph, don't so impressive as everyone make it out to be."

Another figure, shorter than the first came up from behind, "Ah, you haven't seen everything yet. You must know, they Kyoto mage tower is notorious in training top class mages you know."

"I'll believe it when I see them." The first figure scoffed.

"Such arrogance in her..." The second figure sighed sadly and followed the first.

***********************************************************************

****

A strong magic AND ki aura. Ranma's eyes widen as he felt the aura seemingly disrupting the very fabric of reality.

"Did you feel that Ranma?" Kikori asked with concern from the Kitchen.

"Yeah, and it's coming this way too." Ryoga cut in.

"Well, ya know what they say." Ranma said with a grin, "Dun worry 'bout it now, what comes, comes."

"Feh, I doubt even all three of us put together can stop THIS person if he decides to kill us." Ryoga said.

"Strength in numbers." Ranma replied simply.

"Well, I for one don't want to think about that right now." Kikori said bringing out the rest of the dinner to the table.

"I doubt he would come 'n attack us for no reason." Ranma reasoned, "But I'd like to fight'im just for the heck of it."

Kikori rolled her eyes, "You are suicidal."

"That's what he told me when we first met." Ryoga said with a chuckle.

Ranma smirked, "Hey, what's the point in life if ya dun risk it once in a while."

"Yep, he's crazy." Kikori hide her smile, "Now, don't just sit around! I worked for at least an hour to make this dinner! Don't waste it!"

"Do you REALLY have to tell us that." Ranma replied with a grin.

"Yeah Kikori, you KNOW we always finish your dinners." Ryoga said in between bites.

***********************************************************************

"I heard Ranma is going to fight another person." Nabiki said at the breakfast table.

"Really?" Akane inquired.

"Yep," Nabiki said after swallowing another bite of rice, "You know the cashier that is working in their store?"

"You mean the one with the bandanna?" 

Nabiki nodded, "Seems like that boy, Ryoga, is going to fight Ranma at 1 O'clock today."

Akane nodded, "Where?"

"You want to see them fight?"

Akane nodded once again.

"I too want to watch Ranma in a fight." Soun cut in.  


"Well the two are going to duke it out at the field near the ditch." Nabiki said, "Don't be late, they might start early from what I heard."

***********************************************************************

Kikori let out a giggle as Ryoga made a wrong turn again. "You know, it's a wonder they mage tower actually let you graduate even with your sense of direction."

"It's not my fault you know." Ryoga blushed, "Plus, they said that I'm one of those once in a life time mage that can do lots of stuff with my abilities, and quite frankly, I think some of my instructors are scared of what I can do."

Kikori smiled, "I know, and if the fight is yours, please go easy on Ranma."

"HA! If I went easy on him, he'd come right back up." Ryoga grinned, "I'm sorry Kikori, but the only way to win is to go full out from start till end."

Kikori sighed, "I just don't want to send either of you to the hospital after this, you KNOW I can't heal every wound on you two after one of your duels."

"Don't worry about us, we'll heal." Ryoga replied, "Plus, Ranma would kill me if I went easy on him."

"That's true." Kikori sighed sadly.

***********************************************************************

Ranma stood in the field that himself and Ryoga is going to be dueling in, **Enough space me to run around and won't tire me out that quickly even if I need to run the whole field, this field is perfect!**

"HEY RANMA!" 

  
Ranma looked up to see the Tendos walking towards him.

"Hey guys."

"You don't mind if some people came to watch right?" Nabiki asked.

"Not at all, as long as they don't step into the area we're dueling in." Ranma said with a shrug.

"And the area is?" 

"Oh, Kikori is going to set up the field so don't worry about it." Ranma replied.

"Great!" Nabiki grinned, "HEY GUYS! COME OVER HERE! RANMA IS GOING TO FIGHT SOMEONE!"

In a split second, all the people who heard came over, most of them students of Furinkin, few from some other school that heard of Ranma though their friends IN furinkin and the rest that we're just walking by.

Ranma blinked, "Well this is the first fight me and Ryoga had with so much watchers."

"Ah just ignore us." Nabiki said, "We're just going to enjoy the show."

Ranma snickered, "Oh, your going to get a show alright."

"Hey Ranma, whats with all the people?" 

"Finally got here huh Ryoga?" Ranma grinned widen as he saw his rival arrive.

"Yep, Kikori brought me here." Ryoga pointed towards the priestess.

"Well Kikori, if you will can you set up the field for us?" Ranma asked.

"You DO know that if I do..." Kikori warned.

"Ah the mage tower is used to it by now, PLUS we're in Nerima, they have daily fights for Christ sake."

"Fine fine fine." Kikori rolled her eyes and pulled out her pendent.

"_Oh goddess of healing, create the wall of magic null, protect all those that are innocent from harm!_" The pendent flashed bright blue and shot out a beam of blue light that trailed the edge of the field leaving a bluish green line on the ground. After the beam of light retracted to the pendent, the line glowed once and a blue wall stood in place where the lines were once.

The crowd gasped as Kikori casted her spell and wondered what it was.

"Oh Ranma, can you guys start a bit later, like in 4 or 5 minutes?" Nabiki said, "I want to do something first."

Ranma looked a Ryoga who shrugged, "Sure."

***********************************************************************

Nabiki was in heaven, "Ok, quadruple pay for the new comer and double for Ranma, odds may change once the fight starts!"

People rushed to place their bets on the fight.

****

Well I know that Ranma is a Spirit mage, from what I've researched, he's style of magic is very versatile. So in theory, Ranma CAN defeat someone well about his level if he was crafty enough and the opponent is stupid enough, BUT Ryoga has known Ranma for quite a while, so unless Ranma has a new strategy, then Ryoga has the upper hand if he is more powerful.

"Hey Nabiki, who do you think will win?" Akane said after everyone finished placing their bets.

"I don't know actually, Ryoga might have a chance, but odds are, Ranma will win."

"Why?" Akane looked puzzled.

"Ranma is a Spirit mage. Spirit mages, is like our family art, anything goes. They capitalize on versatility and most of the time they have the advantage, BUT they have lots of weaknesses too."

"Like what?" Akane asked.

"Shh! The fight is starting." Nabiki said and turned her attention to the field.

***********************************************************************

"Standard mage tower rules. No killing, No maiming, other than that anything is good! Because of the barrier, standard barrier rules apply, in other words, you may cast any type of spells from area effective to point specific but you may not use geographic hold spells*. Everyone understand?" Kikori said with a serious expression on her face.

The two combatants nodded.

Kikori took at step back out of the dueling area and held her hand up high, "Fighters ready!"

The crowd held their breath as they watched from a save distance.

"FIGHT!"

"_RELEASE!_" 

A green ball flew from Ranma's hand towards his opponent...

(Note: Geographic hold spells, or GHS are spells that effect the surrounding environment. Things like the air density spell, the one Ranma casted last chapter, are considered GHS. Also, most spells that control the weather are also considered GHS. For example, if the Hiryu Shouten Ha was a spell, then that would be considered a GHS. Also because of this rule, most of Ranma's most powerful spells are ruled out because most of his powerful spells are GHS.)

***********************************************************************

"Fighters ready!" 

****

Better start the fight off quickly and try to finish it quickly too, don't want Ryoga to cast his stuff.

"_I call forth the wind, come..._"

Ranma hid his hand behind him as he charged up the spell.

"FIGHT!"

"_RELEASE!_" Ranma shot his spell forward and immediately charged towards Ryoga uttering another spell.

"_Wind, you are the weapon of DEATH!_" The pig tailed mage made two chopping motions, one upward one sideways and continued to circle the area where Ryoga is.

"_I call upon the weapon of nature!_" Ranma gritted his teeth as he throws a strong blast of wind towards the area he's been shooting at.

"That's should get him off balance." Ranma smirked as he rushed into the cloud of dust preparing to face off with his opponent.

***********************************************************************

"That was brutal." Akane said as she watched Ranma throw spells at Ryoga.

"Sis, you're the new queen of understatements." Nabiki said shaking her head, "can't believe it's over."

"It's not over yet," Soun said from behind the two, "See, Ranma just rushed towards Ryoga."

"But Ryoga took at least 3 POWERFUL blasts from Ranma, no one can stand up to that!" Akane reasoned.

Nabiki shook her head, "Just watch the fight ok sis?"

"If you say so." Akane frowned. **No way anyone can stand after that! Even I can't stand up to that.**

***********************************************************************

Ranma threw a flying kick towards where he sensed Ryoga but found himself flying through the air from a throw made by Ryoga.

"You should've keep throwing spells and doing rounds on me." Ryoga grinned, "You just gave your position away."

"OH yeah! EAT THIS! _RELEASE!_" Ranma threw another ball of wind magic towards Ryoga who swatted it away.

"Feh, you KNOW that spell doesn't do anything except annoy me." Ryoga smirked and charged Ranma.

****

Damn Ranma got himself in a defensive stance immediately and defended himself from Ryoga's relentless assaults of punches and kicks.

Ranma blocked another punch and countered with a roundhouse kick to the head, which was blocked effortlessly.

"Heh, you haven't been practicing a lot have you Ranma." Ryoga said as he slammed a punch at Ranma's Stomach.

"That's what you THINK!" Ranma elbowed Ryoga on his chin. "_WIND, you are the WEAPON OF DEATH!_"

The green blade glided towards Ryoga scoring another hit on him.

Ranma stood as he waited for Ryoga to stand back up. "Don't tell me your down already, we haven't even started."

"In your dreams Ranma." Ryoga replied standing himself up, "Time to bring this show up a notch don't you think so?"

Ranma grinned, "Yeah yeah."

"_Wind, give me thy blessings..._" Ranma's Aura grew a light blue. Wind swirled lifting his bangs and his pigtail. (Think DBZ style ^^)

"Feh, that spell again?" Ryoga shook his head, "The stupid speed spell won't do you any good this time."

"_CHILD OF EARTH! I CALL UPON THEE!"_ Ryoga pointed his palm in front of him. A yellow spell circle flashed once and the ground began to shake.

***********************************************************************

"WHAT THE HELL!" Nabiki swore as the ground shakes.

Akane was paying too much attention to what Ranma and Ryoga are doing to notice to the ground shaking.

"Oh my god! NABIKI LOOK!" 

Nabiki blinked. **The ground is cracking open. What is go- A hand?**

Just as Nabiki thought, hand appeared from the crack of the ground. The owner of the hand pulled himself up from the ground revealing a rock golem twice Ryoga's size and probably five times stronger too!

Nabiki winced and pulled out a mega-phone from out of no where. "OK CHANGE OF ODDS! RANMA PAYOUTS ARE TRIPLE AND THE NEW COMER'S PAYOUT IS DOUBLED! BETS MADE NOW WILL BE ACCEPTED BY HALF GAINS ONLY!"

Akane stared at her sister, "And they say I'm the only one that pulls stuff out of nowhere?"

***********************************************************************

Ranma chided himself inwardly, **Shouldn't have try to finish him off up close and personal**.

"You ready Ranma?" Ryoga said as he jumped onto his golem's shoulder.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Ranma gritted his teeth and got into a defensive stance.

"Well then let me start off then." Ryoga launched himself from the golem's shoulder towards this rival. "GOLEM ATTACK!"

Ranma jumped to the side and then jumped upwards to avoid the attack from the golem.

"_I CALL UPON THE WEAPON OF NATURE!_" Ranma shot his spell towards Ryoga launching himself higher up in the air.

Ryoga grunted as he was dragged along the ground by the spell Ranma thrown, "GOLEM, ARM SHOT!"

The golem shot his arm into the air towards Ranma, who skillfully twisted himself and avoiding the arm.

"Your golem's aim is getting rusty!" Ranma taunted as he charged Ryoga once again after he landed.

"_I call upon the breath of a demon!_" Out of Ranma's palm, thousands of spikes flew towards the golem stopping it in this path. At the same, with his other hand, "_I call forth the sword of wind!_" a green blade extended from his middle and index finger and attempted to slash Ryoga with it.

Ryoga blocked slash by grabbing Ranma's fore arm and countered with a hook punch in Ranma's guts, which flew back from where he started.

"A good move," Ryoga said, "but not good enough."

Ranma licked his dry lips as he say the golem collecting its senses and grouping back up with Ryoga.

****

Damn, that was my perfect chance and I screwed it up. Ranma staggered up and winced in pain, **Took too many hits too**

"Why don't you give up Ranma." Ryoga gloated with his golem beside him.

"Oh shut up why don't ya." Ranma growled, "It ain't over till Kikori admits she's a prissy girl!"

"HEY!" Kikori shouted from the side.

***********************************************************************

"That is SO unfair!" Akane said, "This is suppose to be a one on one duel! He can't call for help!"

Nabiki shook her head, "Ryoga is a caller Akane, he has the ability to tame and call the creatures from the ethereal realm to fight with him."

"But that's calling for help!" Akane said still confused.

"Not really since the golem can only do what Ryoga tells it to do. Plus the golem also sends everything it feels and sees to Ryoga so if Ryoga isn't concentrating enough, the golem will go back to the ethereal realm. This also gives the caller a headache too." Nabiki explained, "Besides, Kikori hasn't called a stop to the duel so it's a legal move."

"Well the golem fell apart, why didn't Ryoga even wince," Akane frowned.

"I'm think that Ryoga is a very experienced caller and he's very good at ignoring pain." Nabiki reasoned.

"How do you KNOW all this stuff." Akane asked in wonder.

"Research my dear sister, lots of research." 

***********************************************************************

"Well as much as I like a good chat, I think it's time for me to finish this fight." Ryoga grinned, "Golem, scatter."

The golem breaks himself up and each part of the golem glows and forms a mini golem.

"New trick?" Ranma asked as he saw 4 mini golems in front of Ryoga.

"Yep, you like?" 

"Not at the moment." Ranma joked.

"Well you can tell me all about it after I BEAT YOU!" Ryoga charged and the four golems followed.

Ranma jumped, "_Wings of angels, carry me_" A white light shone on to Ranma as an outline of wings appeared on Ranma's back.

"Even if you can fly, it won't help you!" Ryoga snarled, "golem bring him down please."

The 4 golems nodded and jumped towards the flying mage who barely manage to dodge them.

****

Damn, these guys are fast! Ranma thought as the golem almost grabbed his leg to pull him down, **If I don- oh shit**

Ranma's aura flickered signaling the end of the speed spell Ranma casted.

Ryoga smirked, "Getting slow are we Ranma."

Ranma was about to reply but was stopped by 2 of the golems, one on his back another on his leg. The 2 quickly dragged the pig-tailed boy down and piled up on him.

"Heh, sorry Ranma, but this one's mine!" Ryoga scored a vicious kick at Ranma, "Golem rejoin and finish the fight!"

***********************************************************************

"Well looks like Ranma lost." Nabiki said silently calculating her gains, "YES! I gain either way! Too bad Ranma didn't win, I'd would've gotten more."

Akane shook her head, "I can't believe it, Ranma is going to lose."

***********************************************************************

"AH SCREW IT!" Ranma screamed as he saw the golem rejoin and charging towards him, "_PRINCESS OF ICE! GODDESS OF COLD! COMETH!_"

Ranma mimicked Ryoga's gesture when he summoned the golem, but instead of a yellow spell circle, a blue one appeared.

"come on come on COME ON!" Ranma closed his eyes as the golem threw his punch...

...

...

  
"Ow, how come EVER time I get called I hit my head something somehow?" 

Ranma opened his eyes and sighed in relief, "Sorry Artricia."

"GOD DAMNIT RANMA!" Ryoga clutched his arm in pain, "This is the third time you cut off Golem's arm! It hurts like hell!"

Ranma smirked and replied sarcastically, "Well SORRY."

Ryoga growled, "You are SO dead. GOLEM GO!"

"_Healing winds, aid my wounds_." A light breeze swirled about Ranma and his injuries slowly heal, "'Tricia, keep the golem busy."

"Gotcha."

***********************************************************************

"WHAT! TH-THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Nabiki yelled as Ranma summoned, "he's supposed to be a spirit mage, not a caller! What the hell!"

Kikori walked up beside Nabiki, "Well that's because Ranma is what the Mage tower calls a 'talent'."

Nabiki looked at Kikori quizzically.

"Talents are mages that can be more than one class. So Ranma is a Spirit mage AND a caller, they're just really really rare."

"So let me get this straight," Nabiki said, "Ranma is able to do two types of magic but he's still mainly a spirit mage? Right?"

"Yep."

  
***********************************************************************

Ranma grunted as Ryoga landed another blow.

"Getting worn down?" Ryoga taunted with a grin, but was immediately hit with a spell.

"Not really." Ranma replied. "_I call upon the weapon of Nature!_"

Ryoga dodged the blast and charged up to Ranma with a side kick followed by few quick jabs.

"Great more fun for us!"

Ranma side stepped the kick and blocked the jabs before countering with a palm strike pushing Ryoga back, "_Wind, you are the weapon of DEATH!_"

"Feh, you're slow as ever."

Ryoga jumped over the spell and feinted a punch, which is followed by a kick at the ribs.

"And you still fall for the same trick."

"_RELEASE!_" The ball of magic slammed into Ryoga, "less talk more fight."

"If that's what you WANT!" Ryoga charged Ranma surprising him with a tackle.

"Oof." Ranma flew back and landed on the ground to seen Artricia flicker in and out of existence.

"You're losing it Ranma." Ryoga taunted.

"Well try THIS! _Wings of angels, carry her!_" Ranma targeted Artricia with his flight spell.

"'TRICIA! ICE FIELD!" Ranma shouted.

Artricia jumped back and raised her arm above her head and brought it down in a sweeping motion. The ground surrounding her shimmered and turned into a sheet of ice.

"_Wings of angels, carry me._" Ranma casted again. Both Ranma and his summon hovered about the iced field and watched as the golem slipped again and again.

"How's your butt Ryo-chan." Ranma taunted in a girlie voice.

"Shut up!" Ryoga growled, "GOLEM CRUSH THE GROUND!"

"Damn." Ranma and Artricia said at once as the golem made the battlefield look more like a bomb site.

"Let's finish this." Ryoga said as he gathered his strength, this golem copied him.

"Lets. _I call forth the wind, gather._" Ranma began to charge up his magic while Artricia stood there, her aura burning with cold flames.

"RANMA!"

"RYOGA!"

"PREPARE TO BE BEATEN!"

"PREPARE TO BE BEATEN!"

The two charged each other, Ranma threw a punch at Ryoga's head, which is dodged and Ryoga returned the favor with a punch to the chest, but his punch was also dodged too.

The two traded punches and kicks until Ranma jumped into the air behind Ryoga and held an open palm towards Ryoga's head.

"Yield Ryoga, you lost."  
  
"Why don't you yield." Ryoga replied.

Ranma frowned as he found Ryoga in position to knock the wind out of him and knocking him out. The both nodded in silent agreement and turned towards their summons and saw...

"STUPID GOLEM! LET GO!" Artricia screamed at the golem who is frozen to the ground and holding a thrashing Artricia at bay by pushing her away from him.

The two combatant sweatdropped.

  
"Tie?" Ranma asked.

"Tie." Ryoga replied.

"Tricia stop, oh, and unfreeze Ryoga's golem will ya."

"Golem, come back."

***********************************************************************

"That was anti-climatic." Nabiki said with a grin, "Well the best part about this is that no one betted on a tie."

Akane stood up and rushed towards the mages on the field.

"What's she up to now?"

***********************************************************************

"I declare this match a tie." Kikori said shaking her head, "I can't believe you two did THIS to the field."

The two smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of their necks in unison.

"HEY!"

Ranma looked up to see Akane running towards them.

"Who's the girl Ranma? New girlfriend?" Artricia asked causing Ranma to groan. 

"No, she's Tendo Akane, the daughter of one of my father's friends." Ranma replied.

Akane stopped in front of the group and studied Artricia. Her skin is pale but it shimmers blue in the sunlight. Her hair is dark blue that goes right to her waist and is tied with a simple piece of red rope. Her pupil is like cats, silted, not round. She is also wearing a bikini top and a long skirt with a long slit on the side allowing lots of movement.

"Who's she?" Akane asked.

"Didn't you hear when I summon her?" Ranma smirked, "This is Artricia, Princess of ice, Goddess of cold."

"Hi," The summon smiled, "Call me Tricia."

***********************************************************************

A figure stood on the rooftops of Nerima and looked down at the battlefield, "Well, a talent all the way here, AND a pretty skillful caller too, not to mention a priestess. So it's started..."

"Hmph, they gave up so easily," the Second figure scoffed, "Well what can one expect from a male."

"Hush child, you don't know what your saying." The first figure warned, "One of the males you're talking about is a talent, and they are very dangerous."

"So? Both of his skills are weakling's art." The second sneered, "I can defeat the talent no problem."

"Xian pu, you have my permission to challenge him, but we will abide by the rules of this country, so no kiss of marriage."

"I will do our village proud Great-grandmother." 

Ku lon shook her head and sighed as she watched her grand daughter prepare for her next challenge, "I hope this young talent can help me where the other mages can't."

The old women winced at the memory of the mage her grand-daughter has beaten previously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whew! longest chapter yet! I'm proud of what I did this chapter, but then I also think that I dragged the battle for too long. What do you guys think? Anyway, those of you that think that I'm making Ranma into a unstoppable mage of ultimate destruction (hehe ultimate destruction), well your wrong, keep in mind, not only does the strength of both classes of mages merge, the weaknesses of both also merge, giving Ranma more weaknesses but more versatility.

For those of you who is curious about the summons, here is a quick fact about the ones summoned in this chapter.

Rock golem: One of the five golems available for summoning. It is very strong, very durable, can repair itself if the caller can stand the pain of the golem breaking into pieces, but also really dumb and slow. Golems are ideal for defensive purposes but can be effective in offense if you are very skilled in controlling the golem like Ryoga ^^.

Artricia: One of the 4 elemental spirit gods/goddess/demon/demoness. Very playful because of a certain event that happened during her millions and millions years of life. In legend, she is portrayed as a really calm and serious person, but due to an event, she has changed. This event is still unknown to the mages of the different mage towers but it is speculated to have something to do with Ranma.

This Chapter I also introduced Shampoo and Cologne~~!! You might think that I portrayed Shampoo all wrong (oh yeah, other than when Cologne is speaking with Shampoo, all other characters will use Shampoo and Cologne as their names,), well I have my reasons! Shampoo comes from an amazon tribe that views males as inferior but also knows of their usefulness. This makes Shampoo scoff all males that are warriors thinking that she is better than them hence her reaction to the duel. Also in the Manga, she DOES start out as a cold-ish person, I mean she hunts down Ranma and all that! So I think I portrayed Shampoo right to the T ^^. Just to tell you, I'm one of Shampoos fans.

As for Cologne, right now, she sees Ranma as a tool to help her teach Shampoo that she is NOT the best and there is always someone better. Of course, because Cologne doesn't know the full power of Ranma yet (because of the duel restrictions) she put a block on the kiss of marriage law because she thinks Ranma isn't all he seems to be...

Of course Ranma DOES have more spells than the ones he cast this chapter, and I'm going to have a list of them on the next chapter's note. Also note that some of Ranma's spells does not need him to say the words but it helps Ranma concentrate.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma and it's cast, Kikori is made up by me, so is the golem and Artricia. ^^ All the magic is also made up by me and if it is similar to spell from another show or anime, well it's just a coincidence and PLEASE dun sue me! I poor!! I'm PENNYLESS!!


	6. Chapter 6

"Hi, call me Tricia."

Ranma chuckled, "And if Ryoga ever calls you that, you'd turn him into an icicle. Now why is that?"

The Summoned smiled, "Well, you're my caller so you can call me that, Akane is a girl so she can call me that, but Ryoga is a guy, can't have a guy get TOO comfortable with me."

Ryoga shrugged, then whispered some words opening the ground in which his golem stood, letting him go back to his home, "Well, she does have a point."

"Very impressive young man." Ranma turned to see his father's training partner, "I must say, both of you use your magic skills AND martial arts training to make even masters jealous."

Ranma grinned, "Naw, it was nothin'."

Ryoga just blushed at the compliment.

"But I must agree with the man." 

The three mages turned towards the source of the voice, who is a blur to the three because of some magic, each having their own thoughts.

****

HOLY SHIT!, Ranma gasped at the aura, both Ki and magical, blazing from the person who spoke.

****

Hope this person doesn't want to fight, Ryoga stood still ready to summon another creature to help defend the group.

****

This power, only... but here?, Kikori frowned as she tried to call her goddess for help mentally.

"All three of you are very impressive in power, and I applaud you for your usage of your skills," The figure smiled and dispelling the spell wordlessly, "I must ask, where did you get the idea of mixing your magical arts with a physical one young talent?"

Ranma relaxed himself a little seeing the an old women who is balancing on a staff, "I heard of rumors of warrior mind mages mixing they're amazon traditions with their abilities to use mind magic. So I thought, if they can do it, why can't I? So I spend some time studying martial arts and the art that my father taught me before he..."

The old women nodded, "Yes, Landal told me all about you Ranma. AND you Kikori."

The two looked at the women quizzically, "You know Landal?"

"Of course, you don't get to be on the council without knowing the infamous Landal of the spirit mages." The women chuckled.

Ranma's eyes light up in recognition, "Your Cologne! Representative of the Mind mages, elder of the Chinese amazons/mind mages!"

"I see you are well learnt Ranma." Cologne complimented.

"Well actually..." Ranma grinned sheepishly.

"The only reason he knows about you is because he spent over 5 years trying to do what your tribe has been doing." Kikori answered for Ranma, "And after 5 years, ANYTHING can go through that think skull of his!"

Ryoga shook his head in amusement, "Well at least he learnt it well."

"Enough of beating around the bush," Cologne said adopting a more serious expression, "Oh yes, Soun Tendo isn't it?"

Soun nodded dumbly, "Ho-"

"I can read minds when I want Tendo," Cologne said cryptically, "Can you please lead your daughters back home, we are about to discuss mage tower matters. Oh yes, and tell your middle daughter to go back with you, she is hiding behind that tree over there with a listening device if I'm not mistaken."

Nabiki walked out from her hiding place blinking, "How di- never mind."

"Now why don't we go back to your establishment where we can get a cup of tea and discuss our matters over that?" The elder suggested receiving nods from the three younger mages.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act 1: Chapter 6

Love is in the... wha?

After dragging Ryoga and keeping him from getting lost, and keeping Ranma from beating Ryoga in frustration when he makes a wrong turn, Kikori finally managed to lead the Elder back to the store.

"Interesting friends you make Priestess Sekihara." Cologne raised an eyebrow at the antics of the two boys.

"Interesting is putting it mildly elder." Kikori kept herself from beating the two boys over their heads.

****

It's not proper for a priestess to hit others in anger.

"We're not THAT bad Kikori," Ranma said as he brought in the tea, "besides, s'not MY fault that Ryoga can't find his way outta the bathroom without walkin' across India."

"I CAN SO TOO!" Ryoga yelled angrily carrying the sugar.

Ranma placed the tea down on the table and gave a cup to the elder, Cologne nodded in thanks and took a sip, "I must say, this is very good tea. May I inquire what blend this is?"

Kikori blushed, "It's a blend me and Ranma made by accident."

Cologne nodded, "So how much is left?"

Ranma shrugged, "Two cans of it I think, and we can't make more 'cause we forgot what we put in it."

"I'm quite surprised that one so young would have tea in their kitchen," Cologne said, "I would've think that you'd serve me water instead."

Kikori blushed harder, "I can't drink coffee."

Ranma grinned, "Yep, if she drinks coffee, she goes hyper."

Kikori batted Ranma's head and glared at him.

Chuckling, Cologne placed her cup back on the table, "On to business now. Our tribe's storage for magical items is overflowing and we need time to prepare a larger storage. Landal has told me that you and Kikori are setting up a stay here in Nerima and suggested that I leave some of the less...no...not AS, dangerous artifacts with you to store until we complete our new storage..."

"So basically, all we havta do is carry some junk until ya guys can get more room right?" Ranma said leaning back on the sofa he sat on.

"Yes, but some of the things we are giving into your care is very dangerous." Cologne warned, "Especially the water from the legendary Jusenkyo..."

Ryoga gulped at the name, "Ju-Ju-Jusenkyo?"

Cologne nodded gravely, "Yes, you've heard of it?"

Ryoga shivered, "I've been there, and I've NEVER want to go there again," Ryoga shakes his head to clear it, "Even my sense of direction is all for that notion."

Ranma and Kikori frowned, "What so bad about Jusenkyo?"

"It has a very powerful shape-shifting spell ingrained into the water of it." Cologne explained, "Legend has it that Jusenkyo is created by a very jealous male imbuer. Another man has taken the one he loved, so out of jealousy, he imbued a powerful spell into the springs so that it has an imprint on the one that has drowned in the pool. The magic itself turns anyone who has fallen into the pool into the victim of the pool. And what he did with the spring... well you can guess from what I just told you."

Kikori sighed sadly, "So much sorrow that man must have felt to create the pools."

"Yes that is why it's named 'Pools of Sorrow'." Cologne replied, "Anyway, there are other artifacts that are equally dangerous and others even MORE potent that the spring water."

"We will guard the artifacts with our lives Elder." Ranma said solemnly.

"I expect nothing less of one that Landal spoke so highly of." Cologne smiled, "It is time for me to depart, I wish you all a good day."

"Good day to you too elder." The three said in unison and bowed.

  
"Oh yes, one more thing," Cologne said before leaving, "The artifacts will be send here tomorrow, so I suggest you start making a magical safe house tonight."

The Three mages stood as they watched the Amazon leader hop away from their shop in silence for a whole minute until Ranma broke the silence.

"Err... Sorry to bother ya Kikori, but can ya help me wit' this?" Ranma said, "I know ya tired, but..."

Kikori smiled, "Of course, wouldn't want you to screw up now do we."

Ryoga grinned, "Still can't get warding spells Ranma?"  
  
"SHUDDAUP!" Ranma fumed as he leave to prepare a room.

"Why don't you start dinner for us tonight Ryoga." Kikori said taking the fanged Caller's hand, "I'll lead you to the kitchen so you won't get lost."

Ryoga sighed and followed Kikori's lead, "You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say your defending Ranma."

Kikori smiled slightly, "Well, he is my partner and my best friend."

Ryoga sighed, "Yeah, I know what you mean. You just can't help but like that jerk."

"Start cooking!" Kikori chided and left the kitchen leaving Ryoga with a cookbook and an apron on the counter.

"Let see what they have in the fridge."

***********************************************************************

"I'll do the main casting, you do the touch up ok Kikori?" Ranma said seriously before placing his hands on the door of an empty room.

The priestess nodded in replied.

"_Guardian's of winds, warders of evil,_" Ranma's hands starts to glow an eerie white color, "_Bestow on this room thine protection._.."

The glow brightens up suddenly and the light creeps from Ranma's hands to the door and it's frame, slowly enveloping the walls of the room too.

"_Let all those who attempt to steal be maimed, let all those who is evil be banished away. Let all that is evil be purged from the room. I call upon thy power!_"

Ranma frowned in concentration as he spoke the last part of the spell. The glow that slowly enveloped the room grew more intense as the end of his spell came near all to end with a flicker and a final soft, gentle white glow that shimmered on the handle of the door.

"So did I screw up?" Ranma asked breathlessly.

Kikori closed her eyes and placed her hands on the door, feeling the magic flowing through it, "I do not think so. You did it Ranma."

Ranma sighed happily, "MAN, I hate that spell, so long."

Kikori suppressed a giggled as Ranma blanched, "Oh don't be such a whiner."

"Not my fault these spells are so annoying to cast." Ranma stated, "It's not exactly easy for a spirit mage to cast warding spells ya know!" 

"Yes, it's supposed to be a priest's work." Kikori said rolling her eyes, "and YOUR supposed to be the most 'versatile' spirit mage ever."

"HEY!" Ranma protested, "I may be the most versatile, but I still don't like doin' stuff like warding! I should be fightin' spirits and monsters!"

"Egomaniac." Kikori muttered and heads back to the living room.

"I only say what is true ya know." Ranma smirked.

  
"Yes, you do." Kikori admitted, "You also have a very good ability to exaggerate almost everything you say about your good points and hiding all of your bad ones." 

Ranma grinned sheepishly.

"Not to mention has a thick skull, dumb as a brick, womanizing perv-"

Ryoga added from the kitchen.

"I AM NOT A WOMANIZING PERVERT!" Ranma screamed back, "That girl from Kobe was my assignment! I was suppose to follow her orders and her orders were to stay with her at all times unless she tells me ta!"

"Bet you enjoyed that one." Ryoga grinned.

"Kikori was there too!" Ranma countered desperately.

"Yes and I bet you still dream about..."

Ranma let out a warning growl. "I am going to KILL ya after this."

Kikori sighed, "Guys, it's not even midnight, can you guys at least start when I'm deep asleep or cast a silent spell before you blow something up."

The two boys chuckled sheepishly.

"And is that dinner I smell burning?" Kikori commented before turning on the TV.

"Ack."

***********************************************************************

"Delivery for Ranma Saotome and Kikori Sekihara."

The pig-tailed boy greeted the delivery-man, "I'm Ranma Saotome."

"You just have to sign here," The man said pointing to the 'X', "All charges are paid already."

Ranma signed the invoice, "Thanks."  
  
"No problem," The man said getting into his car, "Have a nice day."

"Hey Ryoga, help me with these would ya!"

"Sure no problem." Ryoga grinned, "Wuss, there's only 4 boxes."

Ranma smirked.

The fanged boy frowned and looked at the boxes again, "Doesn't look THAT heavy..."

Ranma snickered.

Ryoga blinked, "Ok, let see how heavy this thing is."

The Caller gets a good grip on either side of the box and sucked in a deep breath and lifted...

Ranma watched in amusement as Ryoga's face turned from red to purple, to blue.

"You sure you can lift that 'Lost Boy'?" Ranma grinned and walked up to Ryoga.

"Well, that delivery guy had no problem lifting it!" Ryoga said and attempted to lift the box again.

"Idiot," Ranma said pushing Ryoga aside, "Shows you what you know about stuff like this!"

Ranma placed his hand on top of the box. Archaic writing appeared on the box and a yellow light quickly surrounded it.

"There, NOW lift it." Ranma said going to another box and repeated what he did to the first.

Ryoga peered at the box suspiciously, "Are you sure it's ok now?"

"Yes." Ranma grunted as he lifted another box, "But it's still a bit heavy, so watch out."

Ryoga nodded and lifted the box at ease, "Oh come on, it's not THAT heavy!"

Ranma scrawled, "Didn't hear YOU say that at first."

Ryoga only grunted in reply and headed in to the shop…

"THAT'S THE WOMEN'S BATH HOUSE YA IDIOT!"

Or at least tried to... 

***********************************************************************

"Now, tell me where did Ranma went off to again?" Kikori said as she placed some staves carefully on a rake inside the magically sealed room.

The room itself is very plain, four walls, a door, and a window. But if you have a magical sense and that said sense is turned on at the moment. You'd be flooding your brain from the sheer amount of magical energy that is protecting the room. The spell that was casted by Ranma isn't a usual spell, it is a conjuring of sorts; it calls upon the guardian of the spirits he is in control of to protect the room just like the incarnations Ranma has said...

"He went off to buy lunch or something." Ryoga shrugged and handed Kikori some scrolls, "Oh yeah, the scroll racks are coming in tonight, me and Ranma will set them up by next morning."

Kikori nodded with a smile, "That's great! This room will be set up in no time!"

Ryoga smirked, "Of course, was there a doubt?"

"I'm just surprised that the two of you haven't destroyed this room yet." Kikori said in all seriousness, "But that is a blessing from the goddess herself."

Ryoga sighed and picked up a Koi rod, "What is with this thing?" Ryoga starts to swing it suction cup at the end of the line around, "Is this some deadly magic sucking thingymajig?"

Kikori observed the rod, afraid to turn on her magical sense knowing that if she did, she would've been stunned by the magic that has gathered here by Ranma's spell, "I don't know. But I know you shouldn't swing that around like that, after all, Elder Cologne did tell us to be careful of the artifacts she gave us."

Ryoga snickered, "Oh what is going to happen, it isn't like Ranma would walk in and somehow get some weird enchantment from the rod."

"Hi I'm BACK!"

The door swings open and Ranma jumps in holding three boxes.

"Crap." Ryoga cursed and closed his eyes praying to all the gods that the rod doesn't have a berserk spell on it.

Kikori sighed as Ranma unknowingly jumped right into the path of the Koi rod's suction cup and was hooked, "I knew something is going to happen." 

The Priestess watched as Ranma's expression turned blank, "What is it this time, magically induced berserk state?"

Just as Kikori made her last comment, Ryoga managed to 'unhook' Ranma, "Ok... now what?"

Ranma shook off his blank expression and frowned, "What just happened?"

Kikori sighed, "Let's bring him to the living room and see what happens shall we?"

Ranma sighed as he was led to the living room and idly scratched an itch he had on his chest.

***********************************************************************

"How are you feeling Ranma?" Kikori asked in a concerned voice.

Ranma turned to see his partner watching over him, "I'm fine Kikori, just a bit dazed that's all."

"You sure you're all right Ranma?" Ranma turned to an unusually concerned Ryoga and stared at him with a gleam in his eyes.

"Yeah I'm fine." Ranma licked his dry lips, "Umm, Ryoga... err, can I talk to you in private tonight?"

Ryoga shrugged, "Sure."

****

Probably want to beat me up for putting an enchantment on him, I mean he MUST have felt something right?

"Well, right now you need to rest up," Kikori stated and turned to glare at Ryoga, "and I still need to see what kind of enchantment was put on you."

"There's nothin' wrong wit me!" Ranma protested.

"Just listen to Kikori," Ryoga said, "I'll talk to you tonight."

Ranma turned and gave Ryoga a smile, "Okay."

The Caller calmly walked out of the room before shivering, "Why do I sense something... bad... is going to happen."

***********************************************************************

Ryoga sat nervously at the rooftops of Nerima waiting for Ranma to have their 'private meeting'. Usually, Ryoga would have shrugged the feeling off and dismiss it as pre-battle chills. But not this time. This time, something weird is going to happen and he knows it.

****

But what the hell is going to happen!

"Ryoga?"

The fanged boy looked behind him to see Ranma wearing a serious expression.

"Ranma."

"Umm... errr... ya see... I err..." Ranma licked his dry lips and let out a breath he had held, "I... we're best friends right?"

"Yeah..." Ryoga answered hesitantly.

****

What is going on... Ranma is freaking me out here.

"Well, I just want to know. I mean things happen and stuff... err... yeah... umm that's all."

"Yeah, we're friends no matter what." Ryoga blinked in confusion, "I mean we've know each other since we're twelve, why wouldn't we be?"

Ranma's smiled slightly, "Great."  
  
"Err, yes." 

"Ok, see ya." Ranma finished before 'bounced' off.

Ryoga ended up as he started, sitting on the rooftops of Nerima with a nervous expression on his face, "I have a bad feeling about this..."  
  


***********************************************************************

Ryoga stretched as he got out of bed and shivered, "Damn, the bad feeling is still here, just worst."

"Umm Ranma, I appreciate the thought but I don't think this is appropriate."

Ryoga blinked as he heard Kikori commenting on something.

"It's perfectly fine," Ranma's voice said, "He'll appreciate this."

The sense of dread suddenly becomes a wish to run.

"After washing up." Ryoga said to himself, "At least I'll die a clean man."

***********************************************************************

Kikori stared at Ranma.

Ranma stared at the breakfast he made.

Ryoga turned green as HE looked at the breakfast Ranma made.

"This is not happening."

Kikori suppressed an urge to scream and run, "Please tell me this is a joke Ranma."

Ranma just sat there happily held a pair of chop-stick, "Nope!"

Kikori once again turned to the breakfast in front of Ryoga, "Are you feeling all right Ranma?"

"Yep!"

"Then why does it say 'For my fanged cutie' on Ryoga's breakfast?" Kikori once again resisted an urge scream.

Ryoga turned white as Kikori just confirmed that he is not dreaming.

"Why 'cause I made it for my fanged cutie." Ranma replied happily and picked up some food from Ryoga's plate and held it in front of Ryoga's face, "Say AH."

Ryoga did the only thing he can think of...

"AAAHHHHHHHHH."

Scream and faint.

"Now that was rude of him." Ranma pouted, "At least say he was over excited by the fact I made him breakfast before fainting in sheer bliss."

Kikori continue stare at Ranma and resisted an urge to scream incoherently.

***********************************************************************

"He's going to find you sooner or later you know." Kikori said as she hides behind a cement tube in an abandoned lot with Ryoga.

"Yeah, but at least it'll buy me some time." Came Ryoga's reply.

"RYOGA! WHERE ARE YOOOUUUU!" 

The two mages shivered at the shrillness of Ranma's voice.

"I did NOT just hear Ranma's voice get all bubbly." Ryoga said after suppressing another cold chill.

"You did." Kikori said hugging herself, "You know what? I'm going out there and see what is wrong with Ranma."

Ryoga sighed in relief, "Yeah, you do that. Only you can snap Ranma out of anything."

Kikori steeled herself before walking out of her hiding place, "RANMA!"

"Kikori!" Ranma smiled happily and bounced towards his partner, "Where's Ryoga? Didya see him? Where did he go?"

The priestess took a step back, "Umm, no... I haven't seen him."  


Ranma peered at Kikori's eyes, "Don't lie to me Kikori."

Kikori gulped, "O-of course n-not."

"You're lying..." Ranma said in a sing-song voice.

"N-no-no I'm not!"

Ranma growled, "It's YOU! You're keeping me from my Ryo-sama!"

Kikori blinked, "Ryo-sama?"

Ranma sighed, "You know Ryo-chan? Ryo-honey? THAT Ryo-sama!"

"Ohh, you mean Ryoga." Kikori stopped and her face turned green.

"So... you DO know where he is!" Ranma pointed an accusing finger at Kikori, "You're stealing Ryo-sama from me!"

"Nononononono!" Kikori quickly replied as she felt Ranma gathering magical energy from the area.

"_Powers of inhibited wind, thy powers are at my call._" Ranma's eyes glows white as he chanted his spell.

"Ra-ranma, come on... it's me? Kikori! Your best friend! I won't do that to you!" Kikori stuttered as Ranma continue to power up his favorite and the least powerful of his more destructive spells.

"_Come to me oh winds of the de_-" 

"STOP!" Ryoga jumped out of his hiding place in fear of Kikori's safety.

"RYO-SAMA!" Ranma immediately stopped and leaped towards Ryoga and hung on his arm.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Ryoga yelled and ran in circles in the lot.

"But Ryo-sama!" Ranma replied in a whiny voice.

"I said," Ryoga growled, "get off OF ME!"

Ranma reluctantly released Ryoga's arm, "It's 'cause I'm a guy isn't it..."

Ryoga sighed in relief not registering anything Ranma is saying while scrubbing himself, "Yeah whatever."

"Then there is only one thing to do." Ranma said before running off back to the apartment.

"Well, that was... interesting." Kikori said after Ranma left her vision.

"Yes that was." Ryoga said, "I hope that's the end of that."

Kikori gave Ryoga a weird look, "You just said your last words Hibiki."

Ryoga nodded, "Yeah I know."

"Well I DID see something strange while I was talking to Ranma." Kikori said as she took Ryoga's hand and start leading him back to the 'Mystical Dimension'.

"What's that?"

"Well I scanned him for any form of enchantments, but he came up blank," Kikori said, "Normally, he would NEVER have any feeling like that towards a guy, and I've seen him glance at few women before."

Ryoga blinked, "So you're saying that?"

"I think I'm missing something." Kikori said confidently, "Maybe I need a pin-point search on his body to find the enchantment. I mean those artifacts ARE very powerful, so it might be a storage of magic powers that is affecting Ranma right now."

"Well, hope you find it soon." Ryoga said, "'cause I don't want to have Ranma grabbing me like that AGAIN!"

Kikori let out a small laugh, "Well you two ARE kind of cute like that."

Ryoga shivered, "DON'T even joke about it!"

***********************************************************************

Author's note: If you STILL haven't figured out what that Koi rod was... well SHAME ON YOU! You obviously didn't read all the Ranma manga! Shame... such shame...

Ryoga shifted in his temporary bed above the 'Mystical Dimension' in the guest-room of Ranma and Kikori's apartment.

****

Is it just me, or is it warmer than usual here?

Ryoga turned to his side to avoid the small light beam that has got past the curtain.

**That's weird, how come my side was warmer, and after I shifted my chest is?**

Ryoga slowly opened his eyes and saw strands of red hair mixed in with a dark brown hair spread out on the pillow next to the one he is using. His eyes widened but forced himself to look down to see a petite girl with snuggling in his chest.

****

If this is a dream, then PLEASE show me a sign

Ryoga carefully pinched himself only to prove that he is still awake.

****

What would Kikori DO to me if she walks in!

The fanged bow pushed the girl off of him causing the girl to stir.

"NNggghh."

****

OH SHIT!

The girl opened her eyes and looked at Ryoga with a cute smile, "Good morning Ryoga."

"Go-goo-good mo-mor-n-ning." 

The red head giggled, "Your so funny Ryo-sama."

Ryoga looked down to see the red head wearing a VERY revealing set of black lingerie; and being Ryoga, he did what almost every other guy WON'T.

"Urk." 

A trail of blood trickled down from Ryoga's nose.

Just then, Kikori swings open the door, "Ryoga have you se..."

"Oh Ryoga is so cute like this." The red head gushed.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN RYOGA'S BED!" Kikori screamed.

"I was sleeping here." The red head replied matter-of-factly.

Kikori's gaze traveled from the girl's face down to notice another thing about this girl.

"WHY ARE YOU WEARING _MY_ LINGERIE!"

"Wow, this really IS yours?" The red head studied her 'clothing', "I've never seen you in any of your stuff before."

Kikori stopped and scanned the girl's magical aura.

****

So familiar...

"What? You don't recognize your partner as a girl?" Ranma grinned cutely earning her another unconscious person lying in the room.

"What did I say now?" Ranma huffed. "Oh well, gotta start breakfast."

***********************************************************************

Ryoga woke again to a cheerful tune traveling across the apartment,

****

Wow, never thought Kikori's voice can go up that high.

"Hmm, should get Kikori to teach me that song later."

"I'm not the one humming." Kikori replied with a shocked look on her face.

Ryoga stopped cold, "It wasn't a dream?"

"Nope."

Out of sudden inspiration, Ryoga thought of the Jusenkyo water, "Where is Ranma?"

"In the kitchen." Kikori replied in the same subdued voice.

"And that voice..."

"Ranma." 

The two mages looked at each other.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I leave this chapter as a cliffhanger for few reasons:

Actually, I don't HAVE a reason to do this *sweatdrop*. Just kinda ended up like this cuz I'm too lazy to finish the chapter off. I WAS planning to finish this a last Sunday, but I never DID get to it. I PROMISE, to those of you who actually LIKE this story, I'd get the next chapter up by the 4th of November. But in case I don't, hehe sorry.

Anyway, if you STILL haven't figure out what that Koi rod was, then I'd tell you anyway. It's from the 23rd volume of Ranma Mangas (or was it the 25th... can't be sure.). It's the chapter where Ryoga is shopping for present to give to Akane and suddenly run into a shop that sells these Koi rods that guarantee for the 'catch' to fall in love with the 'fisher'. I put this in here for few reasons, I think that this little event in Ranma's life is REALLY humorous. I hope to match it with my OWN version (Of course Rumiko Takahashi is STILL the queen of sick humor and my measly imitation can never HOPE to match her's). Secondly I think this is a nice way to introduce a Jusenkyo curse to Ranma AND have a legit reason for him to turn into a girl. I say legit reason for lots of reasons; A lot of the AU fics that I've read about Ranma, (Oh don't get me wrong, I love them all.) They have Ranma turn into a girl by chance! I mean once is enough in the original series but Ranma can't be THAT lucky to be cursed into a girl in EVERY alternate universe! 

But I digress, (Yep new vocabulary I've learnt! =p) my final reason is very simply, Ranma's girl side DOES look cute with Ryoga. I mean if Ranma isn't a girl, I'd guess they are a couple too.

And why did I make Ranma's girl side's hair dark brown with red highlights? Well I figured that 'Ranko' looks better with that so what can I say? 

For those of you who is asking, when IS Shampoo coming up. Well she won't be here till next chapter and I don't think she'll be in that chapter a lot to. That is IF I manage to get her in.

Oh yeah, before I forget, here's a short list of Ranma's favorite spells:

Basic Spirit ball: The green ball that shoots out of Ranma's hands, what did you expect? (You see why Spirit mages don't call out the spell names now?) Also note that Ranma doesn't need to say any words for this spell, except Release to cast the spell.

Wind Scythe: The pale green blade of magic that is gathered to the pinky side of the caster's hand. This spell ALSO doesn't need to be casted with words, but Ranma still does it because he doesn't know the meaning of overkill.

Wind Armor: The barrier that Ranma used when he fought Kuno. One MAJOR flaw of this spell is that all other wind spells and air pressure can get through the barrier with no problem.

Wind Walk: **GHS** That's the spell Ranma used to condense air around him. It's pretty much useless in a battle since it also slows down your movement in the area giving your opponent a pretty easy target to hit. 

Wind Push: The spell that Ranma casted during the beginning of the fight with Ryoga. It is basically a VERY strong blast of wind that is pushed forwards by Ranma's magic. If you get hit by it, it's like one of Ryoga's weaker punches, but then again, Ryoga IS really strong, so I guess it's still pretty strong =p.

Blessing of Winds: This spell is an assistance spell. It's the Amaguriken of magic! This spell speeds up the target and also gives the target a small amount of protection against impact attacks.

Demonic Wind: This is one of my personal favorites of Ranma's spells. It shoots out thousands of needles made of wind. Usually at full power, this spell would rip anyone apart. But Ranma usually tones this one down unless he's fighting some really really tough person because he has seen its effects first hand.

Wind's weapon: That's the sword thingy Ranma tried to use against Ryoga in his duel. It's a sword. That's about all I can say about it.

Wind wings: Well it's a flight spell. I mean it's wind magic! There is GOT to be some flight spells in there somewhere right?

Aid of Wind: Well spirit mages ARE supposed to be very versatile. So there is got to be healing spells too right?

Guardian of wind: That's the warding spell Ranma used this chapter. It's special because unlike other warding spells, this doesn't use the power of the caster, but the power of the spirits that the caster calls on.

Nature's Fury: **GHS** One of Ranma's BIG FOUR! Every spirit mage have a different one because each mage is different in little ways. This spell has been developed from the Wind Push and Wind Scythe. It creates an funnel of air that rushes up from the ground. It also slices and dices everyone that is caught in it. But because of its range (which is pretty short only about 30cm radius from Ranma) it doesn't make it to the top. Also one of Ranma's favorite spells because of his tendency to go up close and personal

And for those of you who is curious as to the spell Ranma casted at the end of Chapter 4, well if I tell you, I'll be giving away the plot ^^

I guess that's it with my rant and stuff. Hope you guys liked it so far. I'd try to finish this little event up ASAP and hopefully this 20 or so chapters of the 1st act will be finishing up soon (Yes, this story is going to be LOOONNNNGGGG. I told you before; this is going to be my best. I just didn't tell you that it's going to be long too =p). I'm expecting to finish this BEFORE I graduate from College or University (So in other words, I'm giving myself more than 3 years =p) but it's probably going to only last till the end of next next winter. But anyway till next chapter, See ya!


	7. Chapter 7

"AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Cologne sighed as she sipped on her tea in her hotel room waiting for Shampoo to come back, "I was hoping something doesn't happen to them with the Jusenkyo water. I guess Ranma has too much of a chaotic aura for Jusenkyo to ignore."

"Elder." Cologne didn't turn from her seat to face her great-granddaughter, "I still don't understand why you would want me to challenge this talent."

The elder shook her head and sighed, "You'll see why when you challenge him."

Shampoo kept her neutral expression, "But Elder! That mage can't even stand up to some simply emotion control magic. Even that weakling Mu Tsu from our village can resist it!"

Cologne turned and glared at the young mind mage, "Are you implying that I too am weak! That rod has magic so powerful that even the best mind mage can't stand up to it!" Shampoo only blinked in reply, "That rod is created by a VERY talented mind mage AND a top class imbuer, so I wouldn't judge the talent with this Xian Pu."

Shampoo bowed her head, "I am sorry elder, I mean no disrespect."

"That is quite all right child," Cologne sat back settled herself to a more comfortable position, "You didn't know of the rod's power."

"Then I hope that his wielder of spirits can give me a challenge." Shampoo's expression turned neutral again.

The elder just nodded.

**Yes, I know of Ranma's abilities to an extent. The up coming duel with Xian Pu shall let me see his full potential. But the Priestess... her abilities shall be revealed soon. **

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act 1: Chapter 7

Break ups are painful. In MORE than one ways

"Say AH!" Ranma said cheerfully as she continue to 'spoon feed' Ryoga.

"Hhh-hhaaa" Ryoga replied and begins to chew once the food is in.

"..." Kikori chews in sync with Ryoga as she 'observes' Ranma.

****

Where IS that enchantment coming from! I can't pin point it. 

"Ryo-sama," Ranma said in her 'cute' voice, "Can you take me to the movies?"

"Sah-sah-sure." Ryoga replied before continuing his chewing.

"Then we can go shopping! Oh! And we can go to the amusement park too!" Ranma gushed with happiness.

Kikori's eyes twitched, **Oh NOW he wants to go to the park, when I ask him he's all no no no!**

"Kikori-chan, why are your eyes twitching?" Ranma asked innocently.

"N-no reason." The Priestess's eyes twitched some more.

"Oh ok." Ranma smiled and continue to feed Ryoga.

****

Goddess, what have I done in my past life to deserve this! 

***********************************************************************

"I love you Hiro! Don't leave!" The girl on the screen wept as the male character walks away.

"Ryo-chan, don't you think this is beautiful," Ranma asked with tears in her eyes, "Undying love even in the middle of a war."

Ryoga just stared at nothingness and continue to watch the air in front of him.

"Wow, I never knew you're into this kinda movie." Ranma smiled happily and latched on to Ryoga.

***********************************************************************

"WOW! Can you get me that teddy bear Ryo-sama!" 

Ryoga clenched and unclenched his fist over and over again while his eyes twitched uncontrollably. "Sure. Whatever you want."

***********************************************************************

Ryoga slammed the door behind him and staggered towards his bed, **I can't take this anymore! Anymore of that cute act from Ranma and I'll be killing myself! **

"Ryoga." 

The caller jumped and tried to hide himself from his so-called 'lover'

"It's me, Kikori."

Ryoga looked towards the doorway to see Kikori rolling her eyes.

"You've GOT to find out what is wrong with Ranma!" Ryoga begged pathetically, "I can't take the torture anymore!"

Kikori growled irritably, "You don't think I'm trying!"

Ryoga gulped, "Calm down! Calm down! You can figure out what is wrong."

Kikori closed her eyes and took two deep breaths and open her eyes again, "I need a plan."

Ryoga sighed in relief. **After all, like the saying goes, an angry priestess is NOT a good priestess, in more ways than one. You would either get blasted by the gods or you'll never get help from them. **

"I need a way to look over her body to see if there is any sign or marks of the enchantment." Kikori said to herself.

****

Look... over... her body? Ryoga immediately got a nosebleed thinking of a nude girl in front of him.

"THAT'S IT!" Kikori shouted excitedly and turned towards Ryoga to see him lying on the ground with a nosebleed, "I'm starting to think Ryoga is more of a pervert than he lets on."

***********************************************************************

"So that's your plan huh?" Ryoga said with his arms crossed.

The priestess nodded.

"If would work pretty well."

A nod was once again his answer.

"Only one problem." Ryoga said.

"What?"

"The curse is reversed with hot water," Ryoga said, "So in other words, if you were to go to take a bath with Ranma, you'd have to see him naked as a guy not a girl."

Kikori blushed, "Well I don't have a better idea. Unless YOUR willing to go."

Ryoga's eyes widened, "NO WAY am I going to take a bath with him as a guy OR girl!"

"Well then it has to be me." Kikori muttered with a blush on her face.

"You just want to see him naked." Ryoga teased.

"Well I can always ignore your asking me for help and let you do the suffering." Kikori replied as she slowly walked out of Ryoga's room.

"WAIT! I'm sorry! Really I am!" Ryoga once again is on the floor begging pathetically.

"Well if you put it THAT way." Kikori smiled.

***********************************************************************

"Sure!" Ranma replied cheerfully, "You'll scrub my back and I'll scrub yours."

Kikori's heart almost stopped at the tone of Ranma's voice, "It would be quite enjoyable."

"Lets go!"

Kikori, dragged by Ranma, is quickly arrived to their destination: The Furo.

**This is it, I need to keep myself in full alert, can't miss an inch of Ranma's bod... **Kikori's thoughts stopped cold,** Now why is it that this RIDICULOUSLY big magical marking seem to have slipped my grasp for 3 days?!? **

"Ummm Kikori?"

"..."

"I never knew you swing that way Kikori." Ranma said solemnly.

"Huh?"

"You were staring at my breasts," Ranma said matter-of-factly, "I never knew you like girls that way."

"WHAT!" Kikori snaps out of her stupor, "I DO NOT SWING THAT WAY!"

"Then why were you staring at my breasts?" Ranma adopted a confused expression, which is replaced by a frown, "I know what your problem is!"

Kikori sighed in relief. **Wait, Ranma doesn't know about his own enchantment... Then what does he mean? **

"There's no need to be jealous of my bigger breast Kikori." Ranma stated plainly.

Kikori felt like strangling the girl in front of her, "My chest is completely fine."

"I mean SURE your breasts are kinda small and starting to get droopy, but you can't get jealous of another persons body." Ranma said wisely.

****

Oooooohhh, I am going to SO kill you after this Ranma Kikori gritted her teeth, "Whatever you say Ranma."

***********************************************************************

"I've found the origin of the enchantment." Kikori stated in a cold, yet calm voice.

Ryoga took a step away from the Priestess who is fuming in her own, scary way, "T-t-t-that's great Kikori."

"All I need to do is concentrate an disenchant spell on that Koi shaped marking and this would be over." 

"Koi shaped marking?" Ryoga blinked, "I thought that was a birth mark of his."

Kikori stiffen, "What did you just say."

"I thought that the Koi marking was just a bir- oh shit." Ryoga chuckled nervously, "Now Priestess aren't supposed to attack in anger right?"

Kikori just smiled, "Oh, that's right, but nothing in the rule books stops me from doing this."

Ryoga just prayed.

"EEKK STOP TOUCHING ME THERE!"

"RYO-CHAN! What are you doing with Kikori YOU CHEATING BASTARD!"

Ryoga just sighed in defeat, "Hell have no fury like a women scorned."

***********************************************************************

Ryoga felt like crying as Ranma tended to his wounds that Ranma inflicted.

"I'm SO sorry Ryo-sama." Ranma said in a teary voice, "I didn't know you had a pet mouse that was crawling all over Kikori."

"It's all right," Ryoga said, "Just an misunderstanding."

"But it's MY fault that the mouse got away and is right now starving to death and an easy prey to the owls that are in Nerima!"

"Just an misunderstanding."

Kikori watched the 'couple' with an unusually calm expression.

"Why are you so calm Kikori?" Ryoga asked the priestess.

"No reason, except that what happened was rather therapeutical." 

"I'm glad you got something out of this." Ryoga said wiry.

"Yes I am." Kikori countered.

"Ok I'm done." Ranma announced and helped Ryoga back on his feet, "You need to get some rest Ryo-chan. You'll be back on your feet by tomorrow."

Kikori continue to sit on the couch, **I'll do the disenchanting tonight. If I screw this up, then I won't be able to pull off the same thing again. Ranma would probably see me as some kind of enemy because of that enchantment. **

"I'm going to bed too Kikori." 

The priestess stood up, "Ok, good night Ranma."

"Night."

****

So this is what? The 5th time I've need to save you from an enchantment Ranma? Kikori smiled, **He's going to have a fit after this. **

***********************************************************************

Kikori stood next to the sleeping girl and looked down onto her face.

"Well, it's been nice knowing THIS side of you. But I'll need to remove the enchantment now, so, farewell I guess."

The priestess took out her pendent and placed it on the Koi marking on Ranma's exposed chest.

"_Goddess of healing, I call for you aid,_" The pendent shimmered a bit as if to answer Kikori's plea, "_Remove the unnatural, destroy the magical, remove the obstacle. DISENCHANT THE MYSTCIAL!_"

The pendent flares with a bright blue aura that quickly surrounds the Koi marking.

****

Mission Accomplished Kikori thought to herself happily, **Now let's hope Ranma doesn't kill Ryoga when he wakes up**

Kikori's happy thoughts are quickly dissolved by a blood-curling scream from Ranma.

"What is happening!" Kikori gasped as she scanned Ranma's aura, "What is wrong! The spell is only meant to remove magical enchantments!"

"AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" 

The priestess bit her lower lip and discontinued the spell, "What went wrong!."

Sweat drenched Ranma, her chest heaving from the screaming and she glared at the priestess, "You, you tried to kill me so you can steal Ryo-chan from me!"

Kikori backed away nervously.

Ranma calmed her breathing, "You will learn what it means to cross me Kikori. I thought you were my friend, now I see you were trying to steal Ryo-chan from me. I won't forgive you."

"Ranma, you're under an enchantment! You're not thinking properly." Kikori said in hope of changing Ranma's mind.

"No, this is the most clearly I've thought in all my years." Ranma replied lifting her arm so she is pointing her palm at Kikori, "Now suffer the consequence of slighting me. _RELEASE!_" 

Kikori yelped as she dodged the green globe of magic that was aimed at her.

"Don't run away Kikori! You KNOW you can't last longer than I can even IF I am casting spells AND chasing you!" Ranma said as she released another of her magical blasts.

****

Goddess, preserve me! 

***********************************************************************

Ryoga picked up the Koi rod from the storage room, **Koi marking, Koi rod. This is so obvious! You are suppose to get rid of the Koi marking with the Koi rod that placed it there! **

The caller frowned as he recalled Ranma's screams, "But still, that disenchant should have worked just as well, unless the Jusenkyo curse is MORE than a shape shifting spell."

Realization hit Ryoga like a truck going at 150 km/h, "OF COURSE! The disenchant spell doesn't work because the Jusenkyo curse is binded to the victims soul! So if it got rid of the curse with the spell, then it'll rip Ranma's soul apart!" Ryoga winced at the thought, "Damn that means I'll need to get to Kikori before she casts another one on Ranma."

Ryoga rushed towards the nearest magical discharge, "Looks like Ranma is pissed too. At least when the enchantment is out of Ranma, he might be too tired to kill me."

Ryoga sighed sadly, "Who am I kidding, he'll just kill me tomorrow."

***********************************************************************

"_Wind, you are the weapon of DEATH!_"

Kikori felt another blow on her shield that she has up as the green blade hits once again. Magical energy floated in the air of Furinkin high is as thick as pea soup and continue to build up as Ranma throws around her magic spells without caution.

"You can't keep that shield up for long seductress!" Ranma said pointingly, "_I call upon the breath of a demon!_"

Sweat covered the priestess's visage in effort to keep her shield up as thousands of needles rained on it.

"What you don't have anything to say? _I call forth the sword of wind._" Ranma slashed at the shield with the blade she summoned, "Getting tired! I know I'm not!"

Kikori felt her hold on the spell slipping but desperately holds on to it. **I just need a short distraction before so I can cast the spell again! **

"Imagine, just me and you Ryo-sama!" Ranma said with sparkles in her eyes, "We'll be happy together forever!"

Kikori sweatdropped as Ranma forgets about her completely, **Well at least I can cast the spell now **

"_Remove the unnatural, destroy the magical, remove the obstacle. Disenchant the mystical!_"

A blue aura once again flared from the pendent and travels to the Koi marking on Ranma's chest.

"AAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHH" Ranma screamed clutching her chest.

****

Can't stop, if I do, I won't be able to cast this once more! Kikori resolved herself to not stop her spell even when Ranma begs her to stop.

"PLEASE STOP THIS!" Ranma screamed, "I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

Tears stream down Ranma's eyes as the pain becomes unbearable.

"Kikori! STOP IT! You're killing him!" Kikori is shocked out of her casting.

"Huh?" Kikori turned to see Ryoga running towards her holding the Koi rod.

"The Jusenkyo curse! It binds to the victim's soul so if you remove it, it's like tearing the victim's soul out!" Ryoga explained quickly, "Only the rod can remove the spell now!"

Kikori chided herself, "I should have seen that flaw in my plan."

"Well I guess I'll just fish that Koi out now." Ryoga sighed and lifted his arm over his head swings it towards the marking...

...only to find him not holding the rod anymore.

"What the?"

"Looking for this Ryo-chan?" Ryoga gasped when he saw Ranma holding the Koi rod and swinging it around like he did when he accidentally enchanted Ranma.

  
"Give it back Ranma."

"Why would I give this back when we can live happily ever after with this?" Ranma countered and swings the rod at Ryoga.

Ryoga dodged skillfully, "Just give it back!"

"No way!"

The caller growled and rushes forward to grab the rod only to be pushed back by a strong wind.

"Getting careless are we Ryo-chan?" Ranma teased and took another swing at Ryoga

****

Damn, I should've got the Koi out of him when Kikori was still casting the spell. Ryoga jumped and reached for his bandannas, **Well time to go old school. **

"TAKE THIS!" Ryoga yelled to direct Ranma's attention to him so the exhausted priestess can take a break and throws his bandannas towards the magically transformed girl.

"What's with the old technique?" Ranma taunted, "Can't think of new tricks Ryo-chan?"

Ryoga growled and once again attempted to grab the Koi rod from Ranma. Ranma shook her head at him and pushed him away with another spell.

"You never learn Ryo-chan!" Ranma said taking a shot at Ryoga with the Rod, "Why don't you just let me get you and we'll live together happily!"

The caller frowned and continues his assault on the smaller girl, who just casts another spell to push him away.

****

This is getting me no where! Ryoga thought as he dodged another attempt to 'hook' him. **I can out last Ranma, but last time I did that, I ended up almost losing because he got in more hits than I did.** **Damn**. 

***********************************************************************

Kikori watched Ryoga dodging the suction cup of the rod and desperately trying to get the rod away from the enchanted mage. **Something isn't right, Ranma isn't fighting at full strength! **

The priestess once again scanned the pig-tailed mage to see if the enchantment is wearing off, **No... the spell is still as strong as ever. But if it is, then shouldn't Ranma be fighting his earnest to get Ryoga hooked? **

Kikori frowned, "Ranma is either planning something big or something is holding him back."

***********************************************************************

"Your aim is getting worst Ranma!" Ryoga taunted, "You missed me by a mile on your last one!"

Ranma just smirked, "Don't worry Ryo-chan, we'll be together soon enough!"

Ryoga rolled away from another strike from Ranma and picked up a rock from the ground and throws it towards Ranma. 

Seeing this, Ranma bats away the stone only to see that it was only a distraction and Ryoga is already in front of her.

"Gotcha." Ryoga said and snatched the rod away from Ranma who grabs the line of the rod and throws it towards Ryoga.

"Urk."

Ranma smiled as the cup lands on Ryoga's chest, "We'll be together soon!"

Ryoga's expression turns blank for a moment before life returns to it.

"RYO-CHAN!"

Ryoga blinked, "Ranma?"

***********************************************************************

Kikori stared in terror as the end of the line attached itself to Ryoga, **Oh no, how am I suppose to get rid of BOTH their enchantments without getting myself killed or maimed! **

Kikori sighed in despair, "I'm SO screwed."

***********************************************************************

Ranma smiled brilliantly as Ryoga walked closer to her, "Ryo-chan."

"Ranma," Ryoga said in a subdued voice.

"Is something wrong Ryoga?"

"Yes," Ryoga said, "Your wrong."

Ranma's eyes widen as she felt the suction cup land on her chest.

"It's over."

POP

Ranma's eyes glazes over as he limps to the ground.

"Finally!" Ryoga sighed, "Well at least I can have a good night sleep before I get killed."

***********************************************************************

Kikori felt like laughing like an idiot, "What happened! I thought the rod got you?"

Ryoga scratched his head, "Yeah it did, I wonder why it didn't work."

"Maybe it's an one time thing?" Kikori guessed.

"Oh come on, a powerful artifact like this an one time thing?" Ryoga snorted, "Maybe I just have a strong resistance to magic."

Kikori sighed and shook her head, "And I thought that Ranma had a big ego."

"Ugh, what the HELL happened!" Ranma said standing herself up.

"Not much you'd like to know." Kikori said with a mysterious smile on her face.

Ranma blinked, "My balance is off, my voice sounds different..."

"Really..." Kikori said flatly as she watches Ryoga creeps away from Ranma.

"If I didn't know better I'd say I was a girl." Ranma said to no on in particular, but still looks down to see breast sticking out of her chest, "Ok, who did this."

Kikori just pointed Ranma.

"Ya kiddin' right?" Ranma said unbelievingly.

"No I'm not." Kikori replied.

"Who started this whole thing."

"Just be glad you don't remember." Kikori said and walks off hoping to get a good night's sleep, "Oh yeah, can I talk to you tomorrow?"

"Sure." Ranma answered and frowns, "Wait a minute, Koi rod... Spell... Ryoga started this."

  
Ranma's eyes narrowed, "You are SO dead Ryoga."

***********************************************************************

Kikori yawned and stretched as she once again greets the morning, **And I'm glad Ranma's back to normal! **

"Mornin' Kikori." Ranma greeted her in his usual fashion.

"Good morning." Kikori smiled, "So what do you want for breakfast today?"

"Can't get enough of your omelets Kikori." Ranma grinned, "And after I beat the crap out of Ryoga, I'll need a good meal."

Kikori shakes her head but keeping her smile, "You two would never learn."

Ranma gave his partner a lop-sided grin, "I'll be back as soon as Ryoga gets out of that bathroom and let me kick his ass."

The priestess watched as her partner runs off, "The weird feeling is still there, just not as strong... I wonder why."

***********************************************************************

Ranma walks in to the kitchen from the hallway with a pale face, "I just heard the words that prophesies the end of the world."

Kikori looks at Ranma with a skeptical look, "Right, that's what you said when we were going to pick up that weird African tribe leader that hired the mage tower to escort him to his neighboring tribe."

"Ryoga just said I look pretty."

Kikori felt her eyes twitching once more, "So that's why..."

***********************************************************************

Cologne of the Amazons cackled madly as she checks in on the trio of mages living in on top of the shop 'Mystical Dimension'.

"Thank GOD he didn't turn himself to something else with the Jusenkyo water, or else my dispel won't work." Kikori said after relating the events AND the short little event of dispelling Ryoga's accident with the Koi rod.

"So you have cursed yourself with Jusenkyo young talent." Cologne stated, "Lucky for you you're an spirit mage then."

Ranma blinked, "Why is that? What does being a spirit mage have to do with the Jusenkyo curse?"

"Very simple," Cologne said, "The spirit mage quest."

"But elder, how would that help Ranma?" Kikori asked.

"The mage tower of Australia, Tower of water." Ranma answered.

"Very good Ranma." Cologne said with a smile, "Yes, the Tower of water would be able to cure you of the curse since the curse is a water based enchantment. Of course, you'll need the council's permission to go on the quest."

Ranma winced, "Yeah I know."

"But I'm VERY impressed in how long you have lasted against Ranma's attacks with your shield Priestess Sekihara." The elder said, "Most priestess would have fallen after Ranma's demon breath spell."

Kikori blinked and blushed, "Still wasn't very long."

Ranma frowned, "That was long?"

Cologne rolled her eyes, "Of course, that is the weakness of a priestess, channeling a power of the gods IS extremely taxing of the body you know."

"But how about channelers?" Kikori inquired, "They channel a lot of power too."

"Channelers do not let the power flow through them like a priestess do, instead they guide the power AROUND them so that they don't feel the strain of the power." Cologne explained.

Ranma frowned and huffed, "So why are you here today? The storage in your village already complete?"

The elder looks at Ranma with an amused look, "No, just checking to see if the magic of the artifacts manage to lure you into their grasps."

"Well we took care of that." Ranma replied off-handily, "nothing to worry about elder."

"Oh yes, before I forget," Cologne said, "My great grand daughter wants to challenge you to a duel with no restrictions to test her strength."

"Your great grand daughter?" Ranma frowned, "A mind mage?"

"Yes, quite powerful in her own right," Cologne said wearing a proud smile, "She will become a very good leader for our tribe after I retire."

Ranma nodded, "Well tell her I accept and for her to send me a challenge note with the place we are dueling in to make it official."

Cologne nodded, "I will tell her that. Well until we meet again talent."

Ranma and Kikori watched once again as Cologne jumped out of their window and jumped from roof to roof away from them.

"I'll never get used to seeing her do that." Kikori said.

"Hey where IS Ryoga?" Ranma said looking around, "I still owe him a beating!"

"If I were him, I'd be ways away from here already." Kikori replied walking downstairs to open the shop, "Great, the shop hasn't been open for so long, wonder if people will still come in."  
  
Ranma just fumed, "That coward! Running like that."

***********************************************************************

Ryoga sighed in relief, "Glad I got lost."

Ryoga looked around to see people lying on the beach sun tanning and others with surfboards surfing, "I wonder where I am now?"

Next to Ryoga stood the sigh, "Australia's best beach!"

***********************************************************************

"How is this in front of me?" Ranma stood in front of the mirror, naked, inside the bathroom, in his cursed form, studying it in depth. Staring into the reflection, "Is this how you would have looked like?"

The mage reached out to touch the mirror trying to feel the face of the reflection but to be stopped by the glass. Sighing in despair, Ranma took his hands off the mirror and once again stared into it.

"I'm sorry, I should have kept you in my sight," Ranma felt tears running down his face, "I failed you Saiko."

The mage slumped down onto the damp floor of the bathroom that is covered in mist created by the furo that has been recently filled, "I swear to you once again Saiko, I will get revenge for you. I won't fail again, sis... I won't."

***********************************************************************

****

There are days where Ranma would get so sad that even I couldn't cheer him up. Today was one of them. Ranma seem to have this sad smile every time we go near a mirror. I wonder why? Kikori sighed as she gazed up into the heavens, "At least the up coming duel would cheer him up."

"Hey Ki-chan." Ranma said walking up beside his partner up on the rooftops.

"Ranma." Kikori turned and smiled at her partner before watching the heavens again.

"Ya know ya don't have ta be so up tight with just me around." Ranma dropped beside her.

"I know." Kikori replied.

"Aw, com'on Ki-chan, lighten up!" Ranma said waving his hand in front of Kikori's face.

Kikori giggled and brushed his hands away, "Stop that Rammie!"

Ranma grinned and refused to stop, "That's the Ki-chan I know!"

Kikori continue to giggle, "Stop acting like a kid."

Ranma paused for a moment, "Hmm, should I listen or shouldn't I?"

Kikori took in a deep breath and turned to her side with her head laying of her arm, "Ranma, I have a question for you."

"Shoot."

"Why did you look so said when you looked mirrors today?"

Ranma turned sideways and faced his partner, mimicking her pose, "You know the curse that I got?"

"What about it?"

"The girl, she looks exactly like me." Ranma replied.

"So?"

Ranma smiled, "Ki-chan, did I ever tell you about my twin sister?"

Kikori shook her head as best as she could.

"We were kinda special," Ranma said with a smile, "Even though she's a girl and I'm a guy, we look alike. The doctor says that we are a miracle and that my sister shouldn't have looked like me or I shouldn't have looked like my sister. But we did."

Kikori smiled, "You two must be special."

"Yep, we're the talk of the hospital." Ranma said, "And you know who my curse form looks like?"

Kikori's smile faded.

"My sister, I looked exactly like my sister when I'm in my cursed form." Ranma said staring at his hands, "I get reminded of how she died every time I see her face, now when ever I look at a mirror I see how she dies again and again."

Kikori got up and gave Ranma a hug, "Shh, its all right Ranmmie."

"It's NOT all right!" Ranma yelled, "You don't know HOW she died."

Kikori is startled by Ranma's outburst.

"I'm sorry Ki-chan, I'm so, so sorry," Ranma said, "I shouldn't have burdened you with this."

Kikori shook her head and laid Ranma's head on her lap, running her hand through his hair under the moonlight.

**His twin sister? One of these days I'm going to get the whole story from him**

***********************************************************************

****

Fools! Those arrogant BASTARDS are trying to do THAT! Cologne fumed, "And one who is born of sorrow shall lead us to salvation. The one of light shall give us the one that keeps peace. The one that keep peace shall wield the powers of the ancient." The elder recited, "They don't even know the rest of the Amazon prophesy, and most of our prophecies don't even come true."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oooo what did I do to Ranma? HOW CAN I TORTURE HIM SO! Well I'm crazy and I'm delusional that's how! And who are those 'arrogant bastards' that Cologne aptly named? What do they have in store for Ranma? When is Kikori EVER going to get a full story from Ranma about his past? And most importantly HOW THE HELL CAN I KILL OFF RANMA'S TWIN SISTER IF SHE IS AS CUTE AS RANMA'S CURSE FORM! 

The answer to the last question I can answer, 'cuz I'm evil. The rest, well they won't be answer till the end of the second arc of the story so I can torment the people that actually read this part. But I'll be dropping bits and pieces of answers out through the story so dun worry, be happy ^^.

This chapter, I went with the really really scary Ranma approach. In other words, Ranma is COMPLELETLY OOC and is acting like a girl in sugar hype. (Sorry to the girls that are reading this, I just don't know how else to describe Ranma in the beginning of this chapter). And since I'm lacking on serious parts in the past few chapters and the MAIN plot of the story doesn't seem to show that much on the other chapters, I decide to introduce a small bit of it in this chapter along with some dark parts. I just hope I didn't go over board with the dark dark Ranma bit.

On a side note: Why were Kikori and Ranma suddenly acting all like that? Well, I have a very good answer for this. In the Manga, the only Ukyou was Ranma's childhood friend and Ranma still tends to treat her like one of the guys until she glomps him. Well Kikori here is a childhood friend of Ranma who ISN'T engaged to him AND he KNOWS is a girl. So logically looking at this, Ranma should feel more comfortable with Kikori since they work together AND known each other since childhood. The best part is, she doesn't put pressure on Ranma. So Ranma SHOULD act like that. Well maybe not, but still.

Next chapter, we will have the official entrance of Shampoo into this fic! I'm so happy ^^. And Shampoo is going to KICK RANMA'S ASS! Well depending on how the duel goes, Shampoo might get knocked around instead, but I'm still going to let her beat the crap out of Ranma before the duel is done ^^. So till next time, and sorry about the delay on this chapter, I KNOW I said the 4th, blame it on my teachers. Damned slave drivers.


	8. Chapter 8

"Thanks for visiting! Come again soon!" Kikori smiled brightly as another customer walks out of the 'Mystical Dimension'.

****

Just like all the other times, just Ranma and me. Kikori sighed as she waited for another customer to help, or Ranma to come back with their lunch, whichever comes first. **As Ranma so colorfully puts it, this is SO FREAKING BORING!**

" 'Scuse me, can you help me? I was just wondering what this stick does." 

Kikori puts on her bright smile once again and helps another customer in need, **Next time, I'm buying lunching instead!**

"Lunch is here!" Ranma announced cheerfully as he walks into the store.

Kikori's bright smile somehow turns a bit dark, "Ranma can you come over here for a bit."

"Sure." Ranma placed their lunch on the counter before following Kikori's request.

Kikori gave the customer a wink and pokes the 'stick' at Ranma's arm.

CHINK

"Kikori... you KNOW how I don't like you testing stuff on me right?" Ranma said wiry.

"That's what this wand does, it freezes something. Great for making lots of desserts like popsicles and of course you can always use it on annoying people too." Kikori explains the wand's function to the customer, completely ignoring her partner's complaints.

The said customer sweatdropped watching Ranma trying to hack the ice away.

"Err, thank you, I'll take a pack of these I guess."

"If you don't mind, please come this way." Kikori says politely and leads the customer to the counter.

"Stupid Kikori." Ranma mumbled as he continues to hack at the ice encasing his arm, "Just you wait, I'll get you back one of these days!"

Noting the bright sun outside, Ranma walks out trying his luck at thawing himself out in the sun.

"This should help a bit." Ranma muttered and held his arm about his head.

"As much as I'm amused at this scene, can you tell me why you have ice on your arm and WHY you are doing whatever your doing?"

Ranma blinked and turned to see the middle daughter of the Tendo family. "Oh hi Nabiki."

"So?"

"Kikori demonstrated another of our products on me." Ranma said lamely, "And I'm standing in the sun to thaw out the ice."

Nabiki snickered, "I guess that's one way to do that."

"It's not like I can cast some spells to get rid of the ice." Ranma commented, "If I DO cast a spell, I'll probably blow my arm up instead."

"So I heard you have another fight soon." Nabiki said, "Mind if you have an audience?"

Ranma shook his head, "Sorry, not this time. I've agreed to an no restriction fight, so I can't have any audience except for a representative on each side as judge."

Nabiki cursed inwardly at the lost of another entertaining battle, and some profit, "Well can you tell me the out come still?"

The pigtailed mage adopted a thoughtful expression, "Actually, I think I know a way for an audience without interfering with the duel."

Nabiki smiled, "Do tell."

"Well, we just received some 'spy rocks' from the mage tower," Ranma said, "They are basically spy cameras that are rocks, not disguised, but actual rocks. Then you have another rock, the 'vid rock' that projects whatever the 'spy rocks' capture."

Nabiki stared at Ranma, "Are those imbuers perverts or something. Why the hell are they making spy cameras that are basically undetectable by non-magic users?"

Ranma chuckled, "Their bored, that's what they do when they got too much time on their hands."

"I'll take a dozen of them."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act 1: Chapter 8

Mind over Matter, err, I mean Magic

Kikori let out a sigh as she closed up the shop, "Wow, can't believe people would still come after us closing for a few days."

The Priestess leans on the counter of the store and stares out of the window, "Sun sets just isn't as beautiful in the city compared to the open field."

"Ya got that right!" Ranma said walking towards his partner, "But we can't complain, at least we gotta good bed ta sleep in when we're in the city."

Kikori smiled, "That's true, but then again, you never minded sleeping in a sleeping bag."

Ranma grinned, "I grew up sleeping in a sleeping bag, not like some prissy princess I know of."

Kikori gave her partner a short glare, "That was SO long ago."

"So who's the girl that STILL can't pitch a tent after 3 or so years of camping?" Ranma retorted with a grin.

"You're cooking tonight." Kikori said simply and continues to look out the window.

Ranma winced, "Aww, come on! I was just joking around!"

Kikori ignores him and stares at a bird outside, "Hey, what's a eagle doing in Japan?"

Ranma blinked at the sudden change of topic, "What eagle?"

"That eagle." Kikori said pointing at the eagle.

"Well, I'm guessin' that this is the Elder's great grand daughter's challenge letter." Ranma said walking outside.

"Well, the challenge letter must be interesting with a bird like that carrying it." Kikori said and followed Ranma outside.

***********************************************************************

"Where is that challenge letter." Ranma wondered out loud as he examines the eagle in front of him, "Doesn't look like anything is attached to it."

The eagle is just like any other bald eagle you find in the wild, white colored head with brownish black feathers covering the rest of its body. However, the eyes of the eagle seem draws the attention of Ranma. They seem to glow in a way that can't be seen.

Kikori walks up beside Ranma and looks at the bird, "Well, at least we get to look at a eagle close up."

The eagle tilted its head as if trying to understand what the two mages are talking about.

"Well guess I was wrong." Ranma said with a shrug and starts to walk back in.

"Ranma Saotome of the Kyoto tower, 3rd circle spirit mage, caller talented."

"Umm Ranma, the bird just talked."

Ranma stopped in mid stride and makes an impressive 180-degree turn without changing his pose and stares at the bird as it continues to 'speak'.

"I Xian Pu of the Chinese Amazons, Mind mage of the Beijing mage tower challenge you to a honorable one on one duel."

Ranma watch, amazed and amused at the same time, as a feminine voice sounds each time the eagle opens its beak.

**Neat trick, maybe I can learn that too**

"My representative will be the elder of the Chinese Amazons, council member of the Mind mages. If you accept this challenge, please now state that you do accept and who your representative will be."

Ranma blinked, "Err, I accept your challenge?"

After a few minutes of silence, Kikori rolled her eyes and nudged her partner and whispered into his ears, "Your suppose to name your representative too."

"Oh, umm, Kikori Sekihara, Priestess of the Goddess of healing under the Kyoto tower will be my representative."

The eyes of the eagle suddenly fill itself with white light and the light fades just as suddenly as it happened.

"Your acceptance to the challenge as been acknowledged, the duel will take place the day after tomorrow at 1500 hours in the empty lot at the edge of Nerima. Thank you. Please feed the eagle after the spell wears off and let it fly back to it's home."

The two mages blinked in unison as the message ends. The unseen glow that was seemingly present in the eagle's eyes also faded away.

"I guess the spell wore off." Ranma said plainly.

"I think we're supposed to feed it something." Kikori said still in her stupor.

"I'll get some meat from the fridge." Ranma replied and walk back into the house.

The priestess kneeled down beside the bird and looks at it, "Well, if you don't mind waiting Ranma will get something for you to eat ok?"

The eagle tilts it's head sideways again and hops onto Kikori's shoulders.

"Well if you'll feel comfortable like this." Kikori said as she stood there waiting for Ranma, "So..."  
  
Kikori blinked and shook her head, "What am I doing? Talking to a bird! I'm either going crazy or I'm just really bored."

The eagle just chirped in reply.

"Great... I'm going crazy from being bored." 

***********************************************************************

Ranma is wakes up to the sound of Kikori laughing, **Well that's one sound that I'll always be glad to wake up to. I mean if it's Kikori yelling, I'd probably be dead already**

Clicks and chirps quickly follow this laughter, **Huh? What's a bird doing here?**

Ranma pushes himself off his bed and walks out to the small porch. The porch has a ladder that leads to the roof of the apartment/store for Kikori to get up. Ranma prefers to fly up via his flight spell.

"Mornin' Kikori." Ranma said drowsily, "Wassup?"

"Good morning Ranma." Kikori replied with a cheerful smile, "Guess what?"

"I dun like guessin' games in the morning and ya know that." Ranma replied dully.

"That eagle that send us the message yesterday. It's staying with us, seems like he likes me." Kikori smiled brightly as the eagle swoops back and lands on her shoulder.

"Don't ya need a permit or somethin' for a pet like that?" Ranma said rubbing his eyes, "Not ta mention, the mage towers usually don't allow pets in them."

Kikori just shrugged, "Doesn't matter. I'm going to get her registered today and she can live outside the mage tower no problem. I mean eagles ARE pretty high up on the food chain."

Ranma sighed, "You figured a name for it yet?"

"No, not yet," Kikori smiled, "You want to suggest a name?"

Ranma shook his head, "Naw, just wonderin'"

"Good, you'd probably name it E-chan, E for eagle and chan for cute." Kikori laughed.

"I'm not that bad with names!" Ranma scrawled 

"I know." Kikori smile apologetically.

"Well I think you should ask Nabiki to help you with that," Ranma said, "She seems to have a knack with these stuff."

"I'll do that."

Ranma's stomach chose to growl at this moment to make itself known.

"Right after breakfast." Kikori let out a small laugh and walked back in.

***********************************************************************

"Well, all you need is to fill in some forms and have her checked out at a certified vet then your all set." Nabiki said studying the bird that is perched on Kikori's shoulder, "I'm curious, how do you know it's a girl and not a guy?"

The priestess smiled, "I majored in Biology when I was studying in the mage tower."

"I see." Nabiki said noting the implied College degree.

"Wow, you graduated from college already!" Akane gasped.

"Yes, so did Ranma." Kikori explained, "All mages are required to have at least a college degree on at least one subject before they can become true mages."

"That must be tough." Akane said

"Yes it is." The priestess said patting the eagle's head, "Thanks for your help Nabiki." Kikori said standing up and making a bow.

"Don't worry about it," Nabiki replied.

Akane continues to stare at the bird, "So have you named it yet?"

Ranma walks in from the kitchen helping Kasumi by carrying a tray of cookies, "Nope, the birds not named."

Kikori nodded to confirm Ranma's comment.

"Wow can I name her!"

"Sure.

"Call her E-chan!" Akane said, "E for eagle and chan for cute!"

Ranma let out a snicker and Kikori blushed.

The youngest Tendo shoots a glare at Ranma, "What so funny?"

"Nothin'" Ranma replied and sits down beside his partner before letting out another snicker, "And you say I am bad with names Kikori."

The priestess blushed harder, "Sorry Ranma."

Akane fumed harder, "Idiot."

***********************************************************************

"Well, looks like that eagle of yours is in good health," The vet said as he finished checking the bird who is still perched on Kikori's shoulder, "Just attach this to those form of yours and bring them to the city hall and you'll be set."

Kikori bowed, "Thank you for you assistance."

"Glad to help anyone from the mage tower miss." The vet replied with a grin, "I'm impressed, how did you manage to tame an eagle?"

Kikori shrugged, "I'm not sure, animals seem to like me a lot."

"Ah, you must be very close to nature." The vet said wisely, "That's a very good gift."

Kikori smiled, "Thank you." The priestess glanced at the clock mounted on the wall of the room she is in, "I have to get going, I'm not sure if Ranma can keep the shop running by himself for much longer."

"Well remember to come get your eagle checked up every month." The vet said as he led Kikori out the door.

"Will do."

***********************************************************************

"Well how did it go?" Ranma said as he attempts to pat the eagle, who tries to peck him in return, "Hey! Don't you know it's impolite to peck people!"

Kikori let out a giggle, "Well Fudari here checks out fine and I'll be getting the papers by the end of the week."

'Fudari' tilts her head sideways as if trying to comprehend what the priestess was saying, "And yes, it's not nice to peck people Fudari."

The eagle let out a chirp in reply.

"At least the bird is smart." Ranma said with a shrug.

Kikori looks at Ranma, "Something is bothering you."

"Yeah?"

"You're worried about the up coming fight." Kikori stated.

"Yeah." Ranma let out a breath, "It's just that I've never fought with a mind mage before. I don't know what to expect."

"That's what you said about our first mission." Kikori smiled reassuringly, "And we still did all right."

"But that's 'cause I had your help." Ranma countered.

"Well if you keep telling yourself that, then how can you win? I mean if you don't believe in yourself, who will right?"

The pig-tailed mage sighed, "Guess ya right."

Fudari blinked at the conversation and decides to fly off as the two mages changes subject.

***********************************************************************

**To be one, spirit, mind, body, that is the goal of the art.**

**To win, to be the best boy, that is why you're learnin' this. To lose my boy, is to be nothing.**

**The art is not for the weak, nor is it for the strong. It is for those who desire to live, to protect, and to love.**

**Emotions slows you down boy, don't let them!**

Sweat dripped from Ranma's face down onto the floor of his room making a small puddle of sweat. Light from the window shone down on to him in the middle of the room, sitting in a lotus position, as he continues to meditate clearing his minds.

**Never forget what you use the art for.**

**Do whatever it takes to win!**

"Damn it, this is one thing I hate about pops! Him and his stupid view on Martial arts! Still, he is at least good when it counts." Ranma panted as his concentration finally breaks. Pushing himself up, Ranma looks at the clock hanging on the wall of his room, "Man, been at this for two hours already!"

The door to his room creaks open slowly and Kikori pokes her head through the crack, "Your done?"

Ranma wipes his sweat from his brows, "Yeah, I'm done."

"I don't get it, why do you insist on doing this?" Kikori frowned, "All this Ki flow that you continue to talk about doesn't seem to help much."

Ranma chuckled, "You'll have ta hear what those Tibet monks have ta say about Ki before ya make any comments. They make very good arguments ya know?"

"I'll have to hear it to believe you." Kikori said walking in to the room, "I am NOT cleaning your mess for you."

Ranma looks at the puddle of sweat that formed at where he was sitting, "Don't worry, I'll clean it up."

"You better!" Kikori frowned, "It's your shift in the shop by the way."

Ranma nodded and walked out of the room followed by Kikori.

"Say Kikori, you know where Elder Cologne is staying right now?" Ranma asked as they head down to the shop, "I want to know how much longer we need to keep those magic stuff here."

"The Elder is probably staying in a hotel," Kikori said casually, "and when they want the artifacts back, she'll come and tell us."

"Still, I'd feel better knowing how much longer we need ta keep the stuff." Ranma commented as he pushed open to door that leads to the shop, "Gives me the creeps keeping those stuff here."

"You just don't want to get another curse." Kikori said smugly, "And with all the things that happen when you're around, I wouldn't be surprised if you DO get another curse."

Ranma scrawled, "More the reason ta get rid of the stuff!"

"And all the wands in the shop doesn't creep you out?" Kikori said waving another random wand at Ranma.

The pig-tailed teen swatted away the wand, "These stuff dun give me no curse!"

"But they still hurt a lot." Kikori replied with a grin and tapped Ranma with the wand.

"OOOOWWWWWW!" Ranma screeched as electricity ran through his body from the wand, "I TOLD you not ta do that again!"

Kikori walks off with an innocent look.

"Stupid Kikori." Ranma mumbled.

"I see Priestess Sekihara has once again managed to get you with the shock wands."

Ranma jumped in surprise, "Elder Cologne, what brings you here?"

The ancient mage smirked, "Can't I come and visit you when I feel like it?"

"..." Ranma stared at the Elder, "I never imagined you as the sarcastic type, umm, elder."

"Enough with the honorifics," Cologne said waving her hand, "What IS with Japanese, always too polite for their own good."

Ranma sweatdropped, "Actually, if you ask Kikori, I'm the most impolite person in Japan, I'm only like this when I'm talking to any council members."

"Well then talk as you would child, don't let my position stop you." 

"If ya say so..." Ranma replied uncertainly.

"Anyway, I need to talk to you about a personal assignment I want you to partake at your stay in Nerima." Cologne said.

"What kinda assignment?" Ranma said scratching his head.

"Spot and detain." Cologne said simply, "I have a feeling that someone that our village has been tracking will show up in Nerima soon. I'm afraid I won't close by when he shows up so I want you to give me a signal of sorts and slow him down as much as possible."

"What kinda idiot pisses off Amazons." Ranma snickered, "Must be one hell of an idiot."

"Actually, just a very annoying but powerful pervert." Cologne said wiry, "His name is Happosai."

Ranma snickered.

"Yes, I noticed the implications of his name," Cologne said chuckling herself, "But then again, I can't really laugh at him for odd names, my own name sounds like perfume of the male variety in English."

"Of course it doesn't Ku lon." Ranma said politely.

"No matter how much you try to hide it, you can't hide the truth child," Cologne said with a chuckle, "I digress, Happosai have stolen few of our more powerful artifacts the last time he has gone through our village. I ask of you to keep an eye out for him, here is a picture of him."

Ranma takes the picture of and shriveled old man, not unlike Cologne, "What so bad about him? Is he a strong mind mage too?"

Cologne shook her head, "No, he is a twentieth level, demon class* Caller."

"Demon class?!?!" Ranma screamed and took a step backwards.

"Yes demon class child." Cologne said watching Ranma's face turn green.

"You want ME to stop a demon class? A TWENTIETH LEVEL demon class?" Ranma screamed.

"Not stop child, just attempt to restraint. He has a tendency to show up when I am around, so all you need to do is hold him off long enough till I show up." Cologne said with a shrug, "Quite amusing how he DOES show up when I am around."

"What's this I hear about demon class?" Kikori said as she walks back into the shop hearing Ranma's screams, "Oh yes, and try not to scream that loud, your scaring the customers away.

Ranma winced as he caught a glimpse the last customer running out of the shop.

"Yes, I want the two of you to attempt to slow a demon class caller if you spot him." Cologne said.

"Demon class caller?" Kikori said with a perfectly calm expression, "I thank you for your confidence in us, but a demon class?"

"Do not worry about it, just keep it in mind." Cologne said with a dismissive wave, "Anyway, I want you wish you luck on the duel you will have tomorrow."

**And hopefully you will be able to teach the lesson of humility to my heir**. 

"Thanks." Ranma grinned.

"Don't be so impolite Ranma!" Kikori glared at her partner, "Thank you Elder, we'll be seeing you tomorrow."

The old, OLD, lady nodded, "Yes, we'll see you tomorrow."

Quick note: Callers have classes, they are basically the types of creatures they call. Most callers don't have classes but people like Ryoga who specialize in 'taming' specific creatures have classes. Ryoga for example is a golem class caller so a lot of his creatures are golems of different variety. So Happosai in this story will mostly call upon demons for help. Given that one or two might be something else.

***********************************************************************

Ranma sat in a lotus position in the middle of the empty lot where the duel is going to take place. Six rocks at the side of the empty lot marks the area of the arena that they are going to duel, they are also the 'spy rocks' that Ranma talked about. Kikori stood outside the area waiting patiently for the arrival of her partner's opponent.

"I see you are early young talent." Ranma open his eyes to see two blurred figures, one more blurry than the other.

"Elder, I and assume the other is my opponent." Ranma commented as he stood up.

"Yes, I am Xian pu of the Chinese amazons." The second, taller, figure said as she stops the spell revealing a girl wearing a skintight black shirt with black kung fu pants. Purple hair is untied, leaving it hanging.

"I'm glad Cologne doesn't wear THAT outfit." Ranma said out loud earning him a whack in the head.

"Insolent child." Cologne said and walked towards the priestess.

Kikori sucked in a deep breath and held out her pendent muttering a spell. The pendent lights up and marks the area of the duel. A transparent blue wall makes itself known, surrounding the area.

"This is going to be a one on one duel, Ranma Saotome versus Xian Pu of the Chinese amazons. No time limit, no maiming blows, no killing, other than that, anything goes. Because there are no audience, all spells that are allowed by the mage towers are allowed. Are the both of you ready?"

The two mages turned towards the priestess and gave a short nodded before turning back to each other.

"READY!"

The 'spy stones' glows red signaling the activation of the spell on the stone.

"BEGIN!"

***********************************************************************

"This is great! They even have a commentary by the elder on these projections!" Nabiki exclaimed excitedly because this is earning her more money than the last duel.

Akane, who is standing beside Nabiki, watched the projections anxiously waiting for Kikori to signal the beginning of the fight.

"BEGIN!"

"_RELEASE!_"

The youngest Tendo frowned as Ranma shot his hand out firing his magic blast towards his challenger.

The girl jumps up, ridiculously high, avoiding the blast completely. Twisting in the air she lands towards the side of the area just to jump again to avoid another blast from Ranma.

"Hmm, looks like Ranma is controlling this fight no problem." Akane commented.

Soun studied the fight closely, "No, I'd say that girl is leading Ranma instead of Ranma herding her. Look, the girl is gradually closing in on him and Ranma is trying to push her back."

Akane gasped, "I thought she is a mage, why isn't she doing any magic?"

Nabiki turned to face her sister and father, "From what I gathered, the girl, Shampoo, is a mind mage. She does telekinesis and telepathy and stuff like that. I really don't know how she can win this because those skills of her won't really affect Ranma."

The eldest Tendo shrugged, "I've heard of these mind mages during my martial arts training trip, they are extremely dangerous. But I have still to see why."

"Well I guess we'll find out." Nabiki said turning back to the projection.

Akane just watched quietly.

***********************************************************************

Ranma cursed inwardly, **Damn! If this keeps up then she'll be right up ta me. I know she has more skilled in hand ta hand. Maybe she dunno that I know some too so I can surprise her!**

Ranma breathed out, shooting another magic blast; he shoots forward towards his opponent.

"I see you are as they say, smart and daring." Shampoo commented as she stopped and stood in a defensive stance, "Let see how good you REALLY are."

Ranma cursed himself again, **She knows about my skills, so she knows she can beat me. Guess I'll just have ta pull some magic off after all**

"_Wind, you are the weapon of death._" Ranma swings his arm upwards, only to be held back by an invisible force.

"Yes, smart, but too bad you have no experience with mind mages." Shampoo smirked and let lose a snap kick hitting Ranma in the chin, "This will be easy for me."

Ranma flew backward, landing on his back, "Shit! What the hell happened!"

***********************************************************************

"What the!" Akane said in shock, "How come Ranma stopped suddenly, I thought he was going to cast that spell!"

"Well seems like this Shampoo girl just used one of her abilities." Nabiki said, "The limp freeze, an Amazonian mind mage technique."

"How did you know that?" Akane asked.

"Didn't you hear me before? The elder is making comments about the duel on that side screen over there." Nabiki pointed to her left at a separate projection showing Cologne as she continuously commented on the duel.

"Oh." Akane sweatdropped, "Guess I should have been paying attention huh?"

***********************************************************************

"How does it feel to not be able to rely on your magic?" Shampoo said charging up and giving Ranma a quick punch in the chest.

"Feels fine." Ranma grunted as he pushed himself up. "_RELEASE!_"

Shampoo's eyes glow stopping Ranma's arm from making the forwards thrust motion, the ball of energy fails to move forward and drops onto the ground beside Ranma and exploding on contact blowing Ranma away.

"Damn!" Ranma said standing back up.

**This is impossible, she stops my arms from moving every time I'm about to cast a spell, what the hell am I suppose to do!**

"Give up?" Shampoo said neutrally.

**Damn that weird numb feeling when she does that... Wait! Why doesn't she just freeze my whole body? Maybe...**

"Not yet!" Ranma grinned, dropping both hands on his side, "Let see ya stop THIS! _Wind you are the weapon of DEATH!_"

Both of Ranma's hands glows pale green and he brings both hands up at the same time to find only his right arm is stopped but the other arm manage to cast the spell.

Shampoo's eyes widen in surprise as she jumps to the side barely avoiding the extremely fast blade of magic, "I see you have found a way to counter the limb freeze, interesting."

Ranma smirked, "I must admit, that spell ya cast there is pretty useful. Maybe against some hot head or newbie, but not against someone like me!"

"Well, shall we bring this up to another level then?" Shampoo said, her eyes glowing.

"Lets." Ranma got into his battle stance.

***********************************************************************

"Oh I get it!" Akane said planting her right fist on to her left palm, "That spell can only freeze one limb so if he cast two spells at once, then she won't be able to stop them both."

"Oh how observant of you sis." Nabiki said wiry.

"Oh shut up."

***********************************************************************

Cologne nodded, "Ranma is as good as Landal says, he spots weaknesses of opponent's spells and skills very quickly."

Kikori nodded, "Yes, it's usually that ability of Ranma that we actually survive most of the missions we've been sent on."

Cologne raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

"Well, it usually starts pretty harmless, then Ranma insults someone or something and we get into more trouble then we were supposed to." Kikori said flatly.

"I see." Cologne shook her head, "Maybe I should teach the young talent a lesson on etiquette."

"Good luck."

***********************************************************************

"_I call upon the breath of a demon!_" Ranma shouted and shot both ands towards Shampoo shooting twice as many air needles then usual at his opponent.

Shampoo's eyes glow once again, as she dodges the spell.

"Ok let see ya dodge this! _I call upon the weapon of nature!_" Ranma fires a single blast of wind towards Shampoo who deftly dodges the blast again.

**This is getting me no where! If this keeps up, I'll end up tiring myself out and I'll lose the match anyways!**

"Feeling tired yet?" 

Ranma screams in pain as he felt a punch landing on his back, "That the hell!"

The pig-tailed mage scans the area to see Shampoo about three meters in front of him. **How did she move so fast?**

"_Wind you are the weapon of death!_" Ranma made a sideways slashing motion with his right and an upwards motion with his left, Shampoo jumps upwards to dodge the first but barely twists to dodge the second blast.

**What? That last one should have at least nicked the clothes on her! SO that means...**

"Oof." 

Ranma fell to the ground once again as he felt another punch to his face, winding him. "Ok, this is starting to piss me off! Let see you deal with this! _I call upon the breath of a demon!_" 

Shampoo smirked and jumped away once again.

**Now to see if my theory is true...**

"_Fury of the earth, I call upon thy power! Lend me your strength and protect me from that which I cannot stop!_"

Wind swirled around Ranma and quickly picks up speed. A green magic circle flashes once beneath Ranma and the wind immediately turns violent and forms a tornado that surrounds Ranma. Looking though the wind blowing around him, Ranma watched as the Shampoo he was aiming at fade away.

"Aiya!"

Ranma grinned as he turned to the source of the voice, "Nice trick Shampoo, but like I said, I'm not some amateur or hot head that you can trick so easily!"

Shampoo winced at how close she was to the edge of the arena and dusts off her clothes, "I see I have underestimated you once again."

"Didn't anyone tell you, you don't talk in a duel just for the sake of talking." Ranma smirked, "_RELEASE!_ You talk to distract your opponent."

Shampoo's eyes widen as she felt the ball of magic hit her, carrying her out of the arena. "KIYA!"

Ranma continued his smirk, "Looks like the fights over."

"Not quite yet male."

Ranma yelped and quickly dodged an attack from behind him, "How did you..."

The mind mage gave Ranma a wink, "Amazonian technique, air leap."

Ranma growled, "Ok, this is just ridiculous!"

"Yes, but it'll be over soon male." Shampoo smiled evilly, "Witness my second most potent technique that even the elders of my village praise me for!"

Ranma gulped and readied himself to cast his shield spell.

Shampoo's eyes starts to glow violet, "Goodbye."

The pigtailed mage's head jerked back as if he was hit by a punch. This quickly followed by Ranma leaning forward as if he was hit in the stomach.

"How do you like being beaten by something you can't even see?" Shampoo said while watching Ranma being beaten by an invisible person.

"Shudd-." Ranma once again fell to the ground with bruises all over his body.

***********************************************************************

Akane listened to the explanation of the technique Shampoo is using intently, "That move is just like cheating!"

Nabiki rolled her eyes, "Well the mage tower allows it in a duel."

"But using your mind to project physical attacks is just plain cheap!" Akane countered, "That's not fighting! That's beating!"

"But this isn't a martial arts fight Akane, it's a magic duel." Nabiki said with a sigh, "So can you PLEASE let me watch this fight and leave your complaints till later!"

"But I placed my bet on Ranma! I was so sure he would win." Akane said with a downcast look.

"WAAAHHH MY DAUGHTER BET ON MY WOULD BE SON IN LAW IF GENMA DIDN'T DIE!" Soun cried.

"Would be son in law?" Nabiki blinked, "This might need a looking in to later."

***********************************************************************

Ranma gasped for air as another blow landed on him.

"Yield yet male?"

"Not quite!" Ranma yelled back earning him another blow to the head.

**I'm... gonna... lose?**

Ranma thought to himself as he starts to feel lightheaded.

**Heh, lost to an Amazon that I was trying to imitate**. 

Ranma fell to his knees, blood trickled down the side of his face, "Damn, this fight is more brutal then I thought it'll get."

"So you give up?"

"Not on your life, I'll lose when I fall." Ranma replied.

****

Feh, no son of mine is going to lose to a girl!

**Oyagi?**

"You should just give up, I don't want to send you to the hospital just because you are too stubborn male." Shampoo gloated.

****

What kinda loser are you! Just because you are getting beaten now doesn't mean you lost! And here you are, admitting you lost, and to a GIRL at that!

**Damnit! She is good! Damn you Oyagi!**

****

Feh, your just too lazy ta win!

  
"DAMNIT!" Ranma screamed, a green barrier appeared in front of Ranma that seems to continuously take hit after hit, "Pay back time Women!"

Shampoo's eyes glows brighter as she commanded her ability to hit the magical barrier harder.

"Lets see who will last longer in a magic to magic fight!" Ranma snarled. A blue aura flared around Ranma and the magic barrier in front of him turns from green to yellow.

The two mages continue their defense or offense for few more minutes before it all stops suddenly.

Ranma stood at his side, gasping for air. His aura died and sweat dripped from his face.

Shampoo stood, facing Ranma with a blank look on her face.

"You lost." Ranma whispered.

Shampoo's hand moved up, "Ngh, I have a headache."

Ranma sighed as he sees Shampoo faint from over using her magic, "You may train a lot with your body, but I still have more endurance in magic use than you."

Kikori walks up to check on Shampoo, "Challenger Xian Pu has fallen, I declare the winner by Official mage tower rules, Ranma Saotome!"

Ranma grinned and gave Cologne a cocky grin, "Beat your heir Cologne, take that!"

Cologne watched with an amused expression as Ranma's eyes rolled upwards. Soon after, he drops on his back. On a whim she extended her sense of hearing with her magic and concentrated on Ranma.

"... oyagi, take that."

***********************************************************************

Ranma woke in his bed with Kikori lying on his chest, asleep, with clothes laying on her keeping her somewhat warm.

**That was intense, best fight I had in a while.**

Kikori groaned and turned her head towards Ranma's. Her eyes slowly opened, "You're awake."

Ranma nodded, "Yeah, thanks for healing me too."

Kikori smiled, "What are partners for."

"You must feel uncomfortable sleeping like that." Ranma commented, "Why don't you go back to your room, I'll be ok."

Kikori shook her head, "Shampoo is in there, I didn't have the energy to heal her after I healed you, plus Elder Cologne said for me to not heal her so she may learn a lesson from this."

Ranma chuckled, "You know, I think I would have lost this duel."

Kikori frowned, "Why do you say that."

"Shampoo was holding back, but she was too cocky, so she didn't go full out even at the end." Ranma said.

"So you think that if she didn't underestimated you, you would've lost?"

"Yep." Ranma replied quickly, "I woulda lose SO badly you'll see me cryin'"

Kikori giggled softly as she sat straight on her chair after putting her clothes on the back of the chair, "Go get some sleep."

Ranma shifted over a bit, "You need sleep too ya know. The bed has room for two."

Kikori blushed, "Bu-."

"Stop bein' so up tight, climb on!" Ranma said exasperated, "It isn't like we haven't done this before ya know!"

"I need to change."

Ranma blushed, "I'll turn around."

The priestess changed into her other set clothes, which she placed on the back of the chair, silently and shyly climbed on to Ranma's bed. "You sure this is all right?"

Ranma turned back and gave Kikori a grin, "Of course! Like I said, we've done this before. It's just that we're a bit bigger, other than that, not much difference."

Kikori smiled, "I guess so."

"Well actually, I think it's more of a tighter fit mostly 'cause ya gained weight these last days."

Kikori scrawled and gave Ranma a pinch in the arm, "Quite, I need sleep."

Ranma rubbed his arm where Kikori pinched him, "Yeah yeah, nite Ki-chan."

"Good night... Rammie."

***********************************************************************

"Ah so THAT'S why you said it's all right when I asked if Shampoo take your bed."

Both Ranma and Kikori's eyes snapped open.

"No need to get up on my account, you two look very comfortable." Cologne teased.

Kikori blushed when she realized that she is hugging Ranma and her leg was laying on Ranma's.

Ranma blushed when he realized that he had his arm around Kikori the whole time.

"I'll leave you too love birds to your morning... rituals." Cologne coughed and walked out of Ranma's room.

"WE'RE NOT A COUPLE!" The two mages yelled in unison.

"I think I believe Great grand mother more than you." Shampoo said with a giggle, "You even yell at the same time."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Longest chapter up to date in this fic, and I can say that I am ALMOST proud of myself (yes I am one of those, damn it's not enough, gotta do more! Damn this isn't good either! I DUNNO WHAT TO DO! DAMN YOU RANMA SAOTOME! BECAUSE OF YOU, I HAVE SEEN HELL kinda person ^^;). This chapter I want to show that Ranma ISN'T all powerful because he is a talent and sometimes he just can't summon Artricia for help. Also I want to show that Shampoo in this fic DOES have a reason to be over confidant in that she can actually beat up Ranma. But of course, this won't last too long because of what I have in store for Ranma. After all, experience is everything.

Also, I want to show a bit of how Ranma views of Genma are. Most fics I've read with the bit with Genma is dead so Ranma takes on something other than Anything Goes makes it so that Ranma thinks Genma is a good person, which I really don't think so. So in MY story, I want to make it so that Ranma DOES know of Genma's faults but still respect him just cuz he's Ranma's father.

The new magic Ranma used in this chapter is basically the magic version of the Hiryu Shouten Ha. The cast time for the spell is just as annoying as the requirements of the Hiryu Shouten Ha. That is why this spell doesn't make it to Ranma's 'big four'.

To those of you who are wondering what Shampoo's ultimate move is... Well wait for a while, she won't be using it for quite some time. But I can tell you, it kicks ass! Of course not as cool as Ranma's best spell, but still good ^^.

One last note, the last scene is inspired by something I read somewhere that has stuck in my mind for ages! I can't seem to figure out where I got it. So if you know something similar to the last scene somewhere tell me PLEASE ^^; and I'd also like the say sorry to use that if it IS by someone else ^^.

Anyway, next chapter, there will be lots of Ranma/Tendos interaction so I can start giving the Tendos a MORE active role in this fic ^^ Of course, they (Yes even Akane) won't be in the MAIN plot, but they'll be taking a REALLY small part in it.

I'm babbling, sorry ^^; see ya next chapter


	9. Chapter 9

"Ki-"

"Ran-"

The two amazons watched with an amused expression on their face as the two mages from the Kyoto tower continue to try to speak to each other about something over dinner.

"Nevermind."

"Nevermind."

Ranma sighed and continue to eat his breakfast.

**Damnit! This can't be happening! Stuff like this doesn't happen in real life! This is like a movie!**

"Kiko-"

"Ran-"

"Nevermind."

"Nevermind."

Kikori ALMOST swore as she once again lost her nerve to speak.

**What is WRONG with me? It's just Ranma! We've been talking since we were nine years old. I mean I've even seen him na-... Anyway, what IS wrong with me!**

Shampoo opened her mouth to say something but saw Cologne shake her head slightly.

"Kikori."

"Ranma."

The two once again froze. Ranma licked his lips that suddenly became dry as the desert. Kikori fought desperately from the blush that is slowly becoming apparent on her face.

"Can I talk ta ya after eattin'?"

"Can I talk to you after breakfast."

Cologne forced herself from laughing full and rolling on the floor to keep her dignity as an elder. It is only through her years and years of training to actually gain this control over her amusement.

Of course, Shampoo is only sixteen. 

That is also why she is right now rolling on the floor, clutching her stomach, and laughing like a hyena.

"Mo-Mo... Cha-Cha-..." Shampoo gasped for air once again and gave up on saying anything and continues to laugh.

Cologne shook her head, "I believe my heir is trying to say, this is just like a movie, hence her Mo-Mo-... And that this is just like what guys would call a chick flick, hence her cha-cha..." Cologne translated.

Shampoo nodded and continues to laugh.

The two mages blushed bright red.

"Ah, to be young and confused again." Cologne said wistfully and continues to eat breakfast.

Ranma shoved his food into a hole that is his mouth as quick as humanly possible hoping to escape from the breakfast table.

Kikori continue to eat at her subdued pace.

The room was filled only with the noise of Shampoo's laughter as the rest of the mages eat their meal.

"Ne-next th-thing, you know, they... they."

"I'm full."

"Excuse me."

Kikori and Ranma blushed again and quickly walked out of the dining room.

Shampoo just laughs harder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act 1: Chapter 9

The Angelic, yet, Demonic Sorceress of Kyoto. AKA: Angel sensei.

Akane hummed happily as she and her friends walks through the mall spending the money she has won on Ranma's duel.

"I should've bet on Ranma too! But I was SO sure he'd lose to that girl! I mean she was SO cool looking!"

"I KNEW Akane was right about the fight!"  
  
Akane stopped and turned to her friends, "Hey, we're still spending the money together right? So doesn't matter."

Akane's friends nodded happily.

"So any on up for some ice-cream?"

***********************************************************************

Kikori took another bit of her ice cream and sighed, "Why is this happening to me."

The priestess rested her head on the palm of her hand, "That whole chat with Ranma did absolutely nothing other than embarrassing myself! This is stupid! I'm going to talk to him tonight, and I don't care how I sound like."

Kikori adopted a determined expression and nodded to herself, "I can do this!"

"KIKORI!"

Kikori blinked and turned to see Akane walked towards her with two other girls, "Hey, how can I help you?"

"You've been working in the shop a BIT too much Kikori." Akane smiled.

"I guess so." Kikori replied taking another bite out of her ice cream, "But Shampoo and the Elder is helping out with the shop so I get some time off today."

"Elder?" 

"Yeah, Cologne, the women that came with Shampoo." Kikori said gesturing with her spoon.

"That's a women?" One of Akane's friends said.

"Wow, I thought that was Shampoo's pet monkey!"

"If Elder Cologne was her she'll whack you with her staff and say 'insolent child' and hop away." Kikori giggled.

Akane blinked, "So what are you going to do today?"

"I don't know." Kikori replied slowly.

"Why don't you join us? We're going shopping right now, well after we eat some ice cream anyway."

Kikori smiled, "Sure, I'd like that."

***********************************************************************

"So what is the mage tower like?"

"Oh just like any other tower I guess. Tall, some what dark, but have a pretty nice view if you're up at the top of the tower." Kikori replied from the stall in a clothes shop.

"Wow, must be romantic to be up there with a guy." Akane's friend said with a dreamy voice.

"It's ok, me and Ranma have been up there. It's pretty nice during the night." Kikori said off handedly and froze right after she finished.

"You and Ranma... you know?" 

Akane, who kept quiet during the whole thing listening to Kikori, perked up and waited for her answer.

"Well what do you think of this?" Kikori said suddenly walking out of the stall wearing a white, long sleeve shirt with cream colored patterns on the collar, and a blue skirt going down to her knees.

"That looks really good on you." Akane commented, "But don't change the subject."

Kikori turned back into the stall quickly and was silent. The only noise coming out from there are those of clothes rustling.

"Seems we have a mystery on our hands guys." Akane's friends said in unison.

"Come on, let her be." Akane replied seeing how they won't get an answer from her.

"Well, we can't help it if we meet up with Ranma right?" Came the reply as they saw Ranma walk by the store their at.

"Come on Akane! Call him over!"

Akane rolled her eyes, "Fine. HEY RANMA!"

Ranma stopped and looked around, "Huh?"

"Inside the store!"

"Oh." Ranma smiled sheepishly and walked into the women's clothing store, "Hey, what can I do for ya?"

The three girls present giggled, "Hey we have a question for you."  


Ranma blinked, "Shoot."

"Are you and Kikori a, umm, couple?"

The pig tailed mage blinked, "Me and Kikori?"

The girls nodded.

"Nah."

"Well, look at what we have here."

Ranma jumped at the voice, "Sounds like..."

"Hmph, I am insulted. How can you forget your dear teacher."

Ranma turned and an overly forced grin came on his face, "Angel-sensei!"

A woman walked out of the stall beside Kikori's, "Well well, what in the world are you doing in a women's clothes shop. The last time I saw you, you wouldn't come in one of these even if I threatened to blow you up."

Ranma continued to grin, "Well travel with a girl for long enough and ya get used ta stores like this. I mean even if Kikori IS a priestess, she's still a girl."

'Angel' smiled, "I'm glad you remember that, of course, what you don't know is that Kikori is just in that other stall beside mine."

Ranma froze, "Kikori?"

"Ranma." Came the quiet response.

"Whatcha doin' here."

"Shopping."

"Umm, I... I guess I should be goin' now." Ranma stuttered.

"Hold it RIGHT there young man." Ranma's sensei grabbed onto Ranma's collar, "Your just going to leave girls like us with all these bags to carry?"

Ranma sighed in defeat, "Now I remember why I don't like shopping with girls. I always end carrying the bags. At least with Kikori, she actually asks nicely."

Kikori walked out of her stall wearing yet another set of clothes, this time, a nightgown that she picked up. The gown is strapless and flows flawlessly to Kikori's heels. The dress is accompanied by a milk white silk gloves that go up to her elbows.

"How's this dress?"

The girls looked at Ranma for a response.

"Another reason why I don't like shopping with girls," Ranma said, "Why do I have to give an answer? Is it some kind of universal rule that if there is a guy is around, girls HAVE to ask them for their opinion?"

Kikori smiled, "Well?"

"You know what I'll say anyway." Ranma said rolling his eyes, "I mean any other answer will earn me a smack in the head."

Ranma's sensei laughed, "True, quite true Ranma. You are wise about women beyond your years."

Ranma just sighed sadly, "Being stuck with you for few years does that to a guy."

Kikori let our a small laugh, "Don't be so disrespectful Ranma."

"Hey it's true!" Ranma said, "I mean even Landal is scared of her!"

"Hmph, I don't care what Landal says. Plus as long as he calls me Zandia the demoness I'll continue to ignore him and blow him up ever time I see him." 

"Zandia-sensei." Ranma said rolling his eyes.

"What have I told you about my name."

Ranma gulped, "Never call you by your first or last name, always call ya angel."

"Much better."

Akane and her friends blinked, "So is your name Zandia or Angel?"

"Let me introduce you then." Kikori said with a smile, "This women here is considered to be the most dangerous spirit mage of the world. Many that have fought her call her the demoness of wind. Others call her the Angel Sorceress. Her name is Zandia Tasnofra but she calls herself Angel."

"Yeah, she's too full of herself. Come to think of it, she's like the female version of Kuno. She's just good enough to back up her I am undefeatable bit." Ranma said out loud earning him a whack on the head.

"Be quiet student."

"Yes ma'am."

"Well now that the introduction is finished," Zandia said, "Lets go shopping some more!"

Ranma tries to run out of the store but was stopped by his teacher once again.

"And you're coming with us too student."

"Yes ma'am."

***********************************************************************

"You need help with all those Ranma?" Akane asked, concern filled her voice.

"That would be gr-"

"I'm sure Ranma could handle the items we've brought." Zandia quickly cut in ending her sentence with a piercing glare at Ranma.

Ranma winced, "I... can... handle... it."

Akane sweatdropped, "Ok."

The group walked of girls, and Ranma, continue to walk through the mall chatting happily while Ranma struggled with the bags and boxes.

"Hey Ranma, can I ask you something?"

Ranma growled in frustration, "Give me one minute 'kay?"

Akane shrugged, "Okay."

"_Power of wind, lend me thy hand. Release my burden carry my items!_"

Ranma breathed out in relief, "Man, I forgot about this spell. Been a long time since I used it. So what do you want to ask?"

Akane watched in wonder as the boxes and bags all floating around Ranma after he casted the spell. But after hearing Ranma talking to her, she snaps out of her stupor, "How come you became a mage?" 

Ranma scratched his head, "Zandia picked us up. After my father died, Zandia found us and raised us. She saw magic potential in me and asked if she can train me. The mage tower gave their ok and poof, I'm a mage."

"Us?" 

Ranma continues to walk and pretended he didn't hear the last question, "Angel-sensei, how much MORE are ya gonna buy? I'm just wondering 'cause ya gonna pass my limit pretty soon."

"You used to be able to carry more than this!"

"You just have more money ta spend ever since ya got promoted." Ranma growled.

"Why don't you sit at that bench and wait for us while we visit that last shop?" Kikori suggested, "That way you can rest for a while."

Ranma smiled, "Thank you Kikori!"

"You get off lucky this time Student." 

Akane stopped, "I think I have enough, I'll wait here with Ranma."

"Sure, we'll be right back."

***********************************************************************

"You look confused." Akane said killing the silence between her and Ranma.

Ranma grinned, "I guess I have a lot to think about since I came ta Nerima."

"What about?"

Ranma sighed, "Oh lots of things. Who I was, who my father was, who my mother was, who is Soun Tendo ta me, what does the name Tendo mean ta me." Ranma listed.

"Well what DOES the Tendo family mean to you?" Akane asked curiously.

Ranma faced Akane with a smile, "Your family is the door to my past that I sometimes want to forget. Then again, every time I use magic, I'm reminded of my past. So it doesn't really matter."

"Mind if you tell me?" Akane inquired.

"I get the feeling that your sister, Nabiki, is the more curious one of the family. Why ya so interested?" Ranma asked back.

"Dad seems to think a lot about you. Well plus the fact that your not like all the other perverted boys, I guess I want to know why your not as perverted." Akane said.

Ranma chuckled, "You try growing up in the mage tower, most twelve year olds there are as mature as seventeen year olds in the city. The only difference is that they haven't hit puberty yet."

"So your saying boys in the mage tower are more perverted than the ones in the city?"

Ranma laughed out loud, "We don't have TIME to think about stuff like that in the tower. If you truly love using magic, you'll study hard, ya won't let anything stop ya. Not food, not entertainment, especially not hormones."

"So you mean boys in the mage tower are NOT perverts?" Akane said skeptically.

"I'm not sure, depends on ya definition of perverted actually." Ranma said with a shrug, "I mean if ya think about it some way, I live with a girl, we sometimes need to share sleeping rooms. Does that make me a pervert? I mean I sleep with a girl, work with a girl, and lots of times I'm always in close contact with a girl 'cause of missions."

Akane stayed silent.

"Water coming through!"

"Shit." Ranma swore and waited for the inevitable.

SPLASH

Ranma pushed her hair away from her eyes, "I hate this curse."

Akane stared at the mage in front of her, "Wha- what is- what ARE you."

Ranma sighed, "I'm Ranma, and this is a curse I got just a few days ago."

"WHAT SO BAD ABOUT BEING A GIRL!"

"I'm not saying being a girl is a curse, I'm just saying I don't like being something other than me." Ranma said wringing her pigtail, "I need clothes that are water proof, my breasts are showing through my shirt."

Akane glanced down and blushed, "Umm, you want the jacket I brought to cover yourself up?"

Ranma shook her head, "Nah, I'm fine. _Winds of deserts dry. Cover me with your warm breath._"

Akane yelped and pushed her skirt down as warm air rushed upwards drying Ranma's clothes, "PERVERT!"

Ranma turned in time to see a mallet hit the top of his head, "Ow..."

The others walked out of the store to see Ranma on the ground with a mallet implanted in this head and Akane glowing red.

"Wow, good strength, but if you want to REALLY hurt him, you should aim a bit towards the back of his head, not the top." Zandia commented, "Nice mallet by the way."

Kikori rushed up towards her partner, "What did you do this time? You and your big mouth."

"I cast the desert wind spell while Akane was standing beside me." Ranma said.

Kikori took out a thermos and poured it on Ranma turning him back into a guy, "So?"

"Akane is wearing a dress." Ranma replied.

Akane and her friends watched amazed as the girl turned into Ranma. Zandia chuckled.

"Who did you piss off this time? Jusenkyo curse? Whoever you pissed off must be REALLY pissed to risk going over to China and picking it up."

"It's a long story." Ranma and Kikori said in unison.

"Did a girl just turn into Ranma."

"I did NOT just see that."

"Pervert."

"I'll explain what happened." Ranma said, "But why don't we go somewhere private."

"We can go to Akane's Dojo!"

"Sure."

***********************************************************************

"So pass that by me ONE more time?" Zandia said staring at her student.

"I cursed myself." Ranma said slowly.

Zandia bursts out laughing, "OH MY GOD! Love Koi rod and Jusenkyo curse all together in one day. Sometimes, I feel sad letting you go off on your own. I don't have ANY competent entertainment ever since you're gone."

Akane and her friends gaped at Ranma, "Wow, so THAT'S why our school's yard has a hole in it and few bandannas were stuck in the middle of a tree trunk."

Ranma nodded, "Yep, that about sums it up."

Kikori just sighed, "You have NO idea how hard it is to stay sane when Ranma goes all giddy. It's just NOT right.""

Zandia nodded, "I guess you do have a point Kikori."

"So what brings ya ta Nerima?" Ranma asked.

"Didn't you hear her when we're at the mall?" Kikori asked.

"Excuse me for trying NOT to drop your stuff." Ranma said angrily.

"Sorry Ranma." Kikori gave Ranma an apologetic smile.

Ranma sighed, "It's all Kikori, not like I can stay mad at you anyway." Ranma mumbled, "So care to tell ME what you are doing here Angel-sensei?"

"I'm training my new student." Zandia said.

"And where is your new student?" Ranma asked with a skeptical look.

"Oh she's somewhere in Nerima," Zandia said with a shrug, "I told her I'd hide somewhere in here and she's supposed to find me."

Ranma just groaned, "Not THAT training again."  


"What training?" The other girls asked.

"Angel-sensei here 'invented' a new type of training, I call it, 'do as you like, if you screw up, I'll screw you up.' Training."

Zandia nodded, "Yes, and seeing Ranma ending up so good, I'd say it's a good method, so I'm sticking to it."

Ranma and Kikori groaned, "You just don't do that to a beginner."

The girls from Nerima blinked, "Huh?"

Ranma sighed, "You see, Zandia here is a Beginner's trainer. She trains beginners at the art of magic. Basic spells, magic sensing, stuff like that."

Kikori continued, "Usually, beginners are only kids when they are seven years old. So in other words, a seven year old is right now wandering in Nerima, lost and most likely crying."

The girls' face turned pale.

"Ah don't worry about her, she'll do fine." Zandia gave a dismissive wave, "I taught her the magic ball, demonic wind, and Protection of wind* already."

Ranma's eyebrow twitched, "You taught a seven year old to make a TORNADO!"

"Well at least she can defend herself."

Nabiki choose this time to walk in, "Hey guys, guess what? News says there is a tornado that suddenly formed in the middle of the mall. Five shops where totally busted and few people were injured."

Every turned and stared at Zandia, "What? If she was defending herself she did good. Anyone picking on a seven year old deserves a good thrashing."

The group groaned.

*Note: Protection of wind is the spell Ranma used against Shampoo when she made a mirror image of herself to fight Ranma, well that's if you haven't figured it out already ^^;

***********************************************************************

Ranma felt like hitting his old sensei at the moment. The only reason he isn't is because she can probably rip him a new one in less than a second. 

"Angel sensei, I toldja once and I'll tell ya again, the only reason why your training worked on me is because I lived without my parents since I was six years OLD!"

Kasumi and Kikori are frantically trying to calm Kandia's 'pupil' down, "Now, don't cry, you're safe now."

"Don't worry, no one would hurt you."

Zandia gave Ranma a weird look, "And all the other kids in the mage tower hasn't? I mean SURE they had foster homes or orphanages to take care of their every needs, but how is that different from you living in a Dojo where you work for your meals?"

Ranma shook his head, "What IS with me and bad role models? Why can't I have a role model that is even remotely sane and normal?"

Ring Ring!

Ranma blinked as he felt his cell shake signaling a call, "Hello? Ranma here."

Everyone stopped and watched Ranma as he spook into the cell, even the child, "Yep. Yeah she's here. Ehe, you can say that. My training."

At this point Ranma held the phone away from his ear a slight bit and winced in pain, "I'll tell her that. WHAT! I TOLDJA! WE ARE NOT MAKING OUT IN SECRET! Shut up Landal. I'll kick your ass the next time I see ya. Yeah yeah, beat ya later."

"So what did Landal say this time?" Kikori said with a blush.

"Same old, he wants me and you to look after Angel-sensei's new pupil." Ranma said with a groan, "In other words, we need more room in our apartment."

Kikori groaned, "Well, your sleeping on the couch Ranma."

"WHAT! NO WAY NUH AH! That is MY room and I'M going to sleep in it!"

"And leave your dear Angel-sensei sleeping on the cold cold living room?" Zandia said with a pout.

"Not funny sensei." Ranma said, "I don't care if you blow me up or torture me tomorrow, I'M sleeping in MY room!"

"Too bad." Zandia said waving her and once at Ranma's direction, "You won't be moving until I am asleep."

Ranma cursed himself as he tries to move, "I still despise ya."

"Oh, new word Student?"

"No, I just learnt it after I wasn't studying under you." Ranma growled.

"You can always stay at my house," Akane volunteered, "of course, I need dad's permission."

"Well there you have it, don't need to worry about sleeping on the couch," Zandia said cheerfully, "Lead on Kikori. Student, follow us!"

"Yes sensei."

Ranma walked up to the seven year old and gave her his cell, "If she does something bad, call speed dial 3, and tell the guy who answers that demon has awakened and that Ranma said I'll kill you later Landal ok? And if you need my help, call speed dial 4."

The little girl nodded happily and took the cell phone, "Ok I'll call you when sensei goes crazy."

Ranma smiled and patted the girl on her head, "Good girl."

"Are you teaching my student bad stuff Ranma?"

"No sensei." Ranma replied rolling his eyes, "Just trying to save her from a crazy demon." Ranma muttered.

"I heard that."

"..."

***********************************************************************

"Thank you for letting me stay Mr. Tendo." Ranma said bowing politely.

"Ah, no need to thank me young man," Soun said patting Ranma's back, "I'm sure Kasumi can fix up the guest room for you tonight."

"It's fine really, I'll sleep in the Dojo," Ranma offered, "I just need a sl-"

"Non sense!" The elder Tendo said with a frown, "Kasumi, can you clean up the guest room for our guest for the evening?"

"Of course father."

Ranma smiled sheepishly and scratched his head, "I don't really want to bother you."

"That is quite all right, after all, Akane need offer you our home."

Ranma smiled gratefully, "Thanks again."

"No problem at all." Soun replied, "Do you know how to play Shogi?"

Ranma nodded, "Yeah, I'm just bad at it."

Soun smiled happily, "Well now is the best time to improve your skills."

"But dad, I was hoping Ranma would spar with me!" Akane said walking into the room holding her Gi.

Ranma sighed. 

**I knew something like this would happen.**

"Well would you spar with Akane?" Soun asked.

"Like I said before, I probably won't be a challenge to you, plus most of my skills DO fall into magic. And from what I know, Martial arts and Magic don't mix that well unless you're trying to blend them together." Ranma said, "But sure, I guess it doesn't hurt to try."

Akane grinned, "Ok, let me change into my Gi first!"

The pigtailed boy sighed once again, "Is it just me, or do I sigh more often ever since I came to Nerima?"

Soun just stared at the young man in front of him and shook his head, "So young and so full of worries... WAAAAHHHH YOU SON IS SO MATURE OLD FRIEND!"

Ranma sweat dropped after dodging Soun's tears.

***********************************************************************

Soun decided to watch as the two teens sparred with each other and was extremely pleased at his choice. That is, if he hadn't come to watch them spar, he wouldn't have witnessed the match that is in front of him.

Ranma blocked a series of punches and kicks, barely managing to keep from getting hit and quickly retaliated with a few choice combos himself.

Akane blocked the first few punches and jumped back, away from the last kick Ranma gave Akane. Seeing Ranma losing a bit of his balance, she charges up to take the advantage only to be met by a full recovered Ranma who once again blocked all her attacks.

**Interesting, although Ranma hasn't been trained fully in Martial arts, his experience in combat has taught him a few things and his recovery rate is almost unbelievable! Akane on the other hand is more trained and her punches and kicks use up less energy, her endurance seems to be lower than Ranma's and her recovery time is a bit more than Ranma's. Skill against experience, a magnificent match if I must say so**. 

Soun shook his head, "I think its time for you two to stop."

The two paused and turned to Soun, "Why? We can go on."

Ranma sat down and caught his breath, "Man that pushed me to my limit. Can't say I've EVER had a pure martial arts sparring match with anyone."

"You didn't spar with your teacher?" Soun asked curiously.

"I was taught by a guard in the mage tower." Ranma said, "He studied Martial arts but the problem is, guards aren't suppose to fight mages studying in the mage tower even if it's a sparring match. So I ended up just have him show me moves which he and another guard demonstrates to me."

"And you still reached the level your at in the art! Amazing!" Soun praised.

  
"Well, I guess that was a good match." Akane said wiping some sweat off her forehead, "We should spar some other time."

Ranma nodded, "And maybe you can teach me some moves later too."

***********************************************************************

Dinner at the Tendo residence is quiet as usual, even with the extra house guest. Ranma ate at a slow pace savoring the taste of Kasumi's cooking, "Wow, this is the best stuff I've ever ate."

Kasumi blushed, "Thank you Ranma."

The pigtailed mage smiled, "Just tellin' the truth."

Nabiki watched Ranma cautiously as he ate while eating her own wonderful dinner, "Why DID you get kicked out of your place Ranma?"

Ranma growled slightly at the question, "Sensei needed help baby sitting her new student, so the tower elected me and Kikori to do it. Problem is Cologne and Shampoo is already staying at our place so I was 'kicked out' of our place."

"You mean that girl you fought and her pet monkey?" Nabiki asked.

Ranma bursts out laughing, "O-o-old MONKEY! Oh man, if elder heard that she'll be PISSED!"

"That was a man?" Nabiki said with an astonished look on her face.

Ranma almost died from laughter, "C-c-cologne is a women!"

"Err... I'll take that at face value." Nabiki said carefully.

"Don't say ANYTHING about this when you see her again, you'll just earn yourself a headache if you do." Ranma said wisely, "NEVER piss off a mind mage, that's one of the first few lessons you learn in the Kyoto mage tower."

"What are the other 'first lessons' you've learned Ranma?" Kasumi asked curiously.

Ranma scratched his head, "Never piss of a council member, never piss off your teacher, NEVER piss of a high level imbuer, and of course NEVER EVER piss off the lunch lady."

The Tendos face faulted.

"You don't want to know what happened to Jiro when he pissed off the lunch lady there. Wasn't pretty." Ranma said solemnly as he stared at his food in remembrance.

***********************************************************************

Akane watched curiously as Ranma muttered a spell and flew up onto the roof of the house, "What are you doing up there Ranma?"

Ranma looked down, "Oh hey Akane."

"So what ARE you doing?"

Ranma lay down on the roof, "Just star gazing, one of the only things you get to do while traveling around on the road. Wanna come join me?"

  
"I don't think I can get up there." Akane said sadly.

"I can take care of that." Ranma said with a grin, "_Wings of angel, carry her._"

White wings appeared on Akane's back as Ranma guided them to lead her up onto the roof of the house, "There, no problem."

Akane could only grin happily at the experience, "So you do this every night?"

Ranma nodded, "Yep the stars remind me of my family."

Akane frowned and looked at Ranma, "Why ARE you telling me this?"

"I trust you."

"We barely know each other."

Ranma grinned sheepishly, "Well they do call us spirit mages for some reason ya know. We see spirits. And these spirits tells me that if things were different, you and me would've been good friends. Maybe something more. I trust the spirits, and they trust you."

Akane stay silent.

Ranma continued to stare at the stars watching them flicker as if urging him to do something.

"Me and my sister."

"Huh?"

Ranma sighed, "You asked who's us when we're at the mall, me and my twin sister. She died when I was seven just a year after my father left us." Ranma laughed sadly at his private joke, "He wasn't the best of people, but he's my father and he lived up to the role."

"Why ARE you tell me all this?" Akane said suddenly afraid of the knowledge.

"Well do you want to know or don't ya?" Ranma asked humorously, "Or we can just watch the stars silently."

Akane took a few minutes to think, "Tell me."

Ranma only smiled hopefully, "Thank you Akane. Oh and sorry about the mall, I guess I should've warned ya about the spell."

"You're forgiven." Akane replied silently.

Ranma closed his eyes, "I guess I should start at the beginning, the earliest memory I have..."

***********************************************************************

Meanwhile in the living room of Kikori and Ranma's apartment, Cologne and Zandia sat on the couch staring out of the window into the night sky. Both with sad looks on there face, both sat in silences.

"So you think that Ranma is the one in the prophecy?" Zandia asked Cologne.

"Yes, and for once, I'm glad you DID train someone." Cologne answered, "Well I'm just glad you trained Ranma, he couldn't have been trained by a better teacher."

Zandia sighed, "It's a shame he couldn't be my heir, he HAS to be a talent and ruin my chance to pass on ALL my skills."

"The girl you have seems pretty talented." Cologne commented.

"Yes, but people like Ranma only come once in a millennia." The spirit mage said with a sad smile, "I hope that prophecy won't come true."

"The Prophets have confirmed it already." Cologne said, "The council give it a 90% chance of it happening."

"Makes you wish that you died long time ago doesn't it?" Zandia said sadly, "Makes me want to kill him before it happens."

"But you can't, you like him too much." Cologne stated, "And yes, makes me wish I died years ago."

The two mages sighed in unison, "We should get some sleep."

"I agree."

Kikori only barely managed to keep herself from screaming at the two mages in her living room after hearing their conversation.

**Ranma... is in a... Prophecy? And they aren't doing anything! I...**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There! an Akane/Ranma scene! I think I made Akane a bit TOO OOC in that last part. Can't be helped, I need her like that... well until Ranma puts his foot in his mouth anyway. Some of you might be wondering, why is Ranma more polite in this fic? Well the answer is simply, refer to the list of 'first lessons' Ranma made during dinner. I mean, let's face it, the tower is BOUND to have tons and tons of mages that can probably torture Ranma till the end of time if he pissed them off. Of COURSE he's going to learn not to piss them off, which in turn makes Ranma watches what he says. Of course, he still does. That's how he goes off on adventures rescuing tomboys and curing his curse ^^.

Well there is only one Akane kidnapping case in this fic, I hate have Akane kidnapped, it gets too repetitive. I mean look at the Saffron saga! They kidnapped Akane and she gets out on her own! Not really successful are they?

Also you might be wondering, why Ranma trusts Akane. Well, despite the fact that I REALLY don't think Ranma goes good with Akane (Ohh, I am going to SO get hate mail for that last comment. Please don't hurt me!) I think Takahashi-sama REALLY thinks that those two are meant for each other, so I'm doing that last scene in for her and all those Ranma/Akane fans out there who actually reads this story despite the fact that I've already said that Ranma doesn't end up with Akane. And about the comment Ranma made when he had his talk with Akane on the roof top about them being friends. I actually DO believe that, I mean if Akane wasn't such a violent maniac and Ranma actually isn't so much of a macho butt head, yeah they could get along fine.

Anyway, I'm kinda happy I got this update early, don't expect me to do this too often. I'm just writing this cuz I'm happy about school (I'm weird sue me) and I want to spend my unused energy left over from my celebrating to write. So there ^^ hope this chapter doesn't seem TOO rushed... ^^;

Cya next chapter ^^

Disclaimer: Hehe I haven't done one of these for how many chapters? Sorry about that to all that owns Ranma. But I own Kikori and Zandia and Zandia's pupil and all the magic used in the fic! If the magic in the fic is similar to any other series, e-mail me and tell me and I'll add the series in the disclaimer too ^^


	10. Chapter 10

Ranma yawned as he wakes up from slumber within the Tendo residence. Light shone through the window of the guest room that he is sleeping in for the night because his teacher had kicked him out of his own apartment.

**Ah, stupid Demoness! One of these days I'll get her back.** Ranma growled a bit at the memory of last afternoon when his teacher kicked him out.

**I guess I can't really do anythin' ta her anytime soon.** Ranma sighed sadly, **At least I don't need to compete for breakfast without her here.**

A cold chill traveled up Ranma's spine as a foreboding feeling hits him like a mallet, **I'm going to die today.**

"RANMA! BREAKFAST!"

Ranma tried to grin, but the bad feeling suddenly grows exponentially.

**Yep, dead as the mouse on the side of the road.**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act 1: Chapter 10

Monsters, Martial Artists, and something related to THAT time of month...

Ranma smiled politely as he joined the Tendo family in the dining room. His smile grew wider as he saw the food that littered the table, "Wow, that's a lot of food."

Kasumi frowned in worry, "Oh is it too much Saotome-san? I heard that mages eat a lot so I prepared a bigger breakfast for you."

Ranma blinked, "No! This is great." Ranma sat down beside an empty seat between Akane and Nabiki, "But I wouldn't let Kikori or any female mage hear that from you, they go berserk." 

The three sister blinked in unison, Soun just nodded wisely, "Yes, you are very wise in the ways of women thought Ranma."

Ranma shook his head, "Naw, I tried tellin them that once, got beatin' up so badly I don't even wanna think 'bout it."

Sweatdrops appeared on everyone's head with the exception of the mage who is scratching his head nervously, "Umm, shall we eat?"

Soun recovered, "Yes, please, enjoy your meal."

Ranma wasted no time and started to dig in.

Akane adopted a determined expression and pushed a dish with a black block of 'food' on it towards Ranma, "Hey Ranma, try some of this. I made it myself."

Ranma took a glance of the dish and his eyes widened, "OH MY GOD!"

"WHAT!" The Tendo family jumped.

Ranma jumped back from the table and held his right hand up, his palm facing the 'food' Akane made, "_Spirits of wind, guide these wandering spirits to the path well taken!_"

White light traveled from the air around Ranma into him and followed his arm towards the 'food' Akane made. The light didn't make it to the 'food' because of a sickly green barrier that appeared in front of it.

Nabiki watched his with amusement written all over her face, "What are you doing and WHY are you doing that?"

Ranma gasped as he saw the barrier, "This thing is harder to defeat than I thought."

Akane's eyes twitched.

"I don't think I need Kikori to help me ta get rid of that barrier, then I can get rid of that spirit." Ranma mumbled to himself, "_Oh Spirits of wind, heed my call! Gather your magic, pierce through the wall of the unbreakable, banish the evil within!_" 

Once again, Ranma held his arm turning his palm towards the dish with the 'food' on it. White light rushed towards the dish and was stopped by the same barrier. This time, the light condensed and formed a tight 'laser' of white light piercing through the barrier and reaching the 'food' within. The food quivered and then the barrier suddenly dropped.

"Wow, I've NEVER seen one of those on a breakfast table before." Ranma said casually.

"And WHAT exactly is one of THOSE?" Nabiki asked smirking to herself.

"Oh, those are spirits of the dead animal that refuse to leave their body," Ranma explained, "That's also how some corrupted Spirit mages manage to make 'zombies'. Usually stuff like this dun happen 'cause most animals accept the fact that they died for the greater good." Ranma frowned, "Well, ever since those scientist start using animals to test out drugs and killed them, the spirits don't think they died fairly and doesn't leave their body. That, whatever it is, musta died a pretty brutal death to have stayed in that for THAT long."

A red aura burned around Akane as her eyes twitched in quicker succession.

"Oh my," Kasumi gasped, "So THAT'S what happened to that fresh fish I brought this morning in the market. I was wondering what happened to it. It was still alive when I brought it home. I wonder who would kill the fish so brutally."

"Wow, I really don't need to eat fish THAT fresh Kasumi-san." Ranma said, "But I DO wonder who would manage to make a 'zombie' out of FISH!"

Nabiki's smug expression grew, "I thought Akane said that she made it herself before you fried it."

Ranma glanced at Akane warily, "Hmm, she doesn't feel like a corrupted Spirit mage."

Akane starts to growl, a mallet magically appears in her hand before shouting, "RANMA YOU IDIOT!"

WHAM!

***********************************************************************

Ranma groaned as another wave of headache hits him for the umpteenth time, "Man, she hits hard."

Nabiki snickered, "That's little sis for you."

Ranma turned to face Nabiki, "Tell me the truth ok Nabiki. Is it that time of month for her?"

Nabiki could only stare at the injured mage. Her face as pale, well there isn't anything as pale as her right now.

"I mean I've never met a girl that can do THAT unless she has PMS." Ranma said bluntly.

Nabiki quietly said a prayer despite her atheist standing.

Ranma sweated heavily, "She is behind me isn't she."

Nod was his reply.

"What have I done in my past life God." Ranma muttered.

"YOU IDIOT!"

WHAM!

***********************************************************************

Ranma woke up once again and was greeted by the sight of his partner and his teacher, "Hey guys."

Kikori shook her head, "I can't believe you stuck you foot in your mouth so quickly."

Zandia nodded, "Yes, I was expecting a better performance on your part."

Ranma groaned, "But you don't understand! I was just sending a VERY mad fish spirit."

Kikori and Zandia both gave him the 'who am I an idiot?' stare, "A fish spirit Ranma?"

"YES a fish spirit!"

Kikori sighed in defeat and muttered to herself.

Zandia on the other hand expressed herself more vocally, "Are you STUPID or something? Fish spirits are the hardest things to PISS OFF! I mean, many mages have TRIED to piss them off, non has made a pissed off fish spirit yet!"

Ranma thought for a moment, "Ok, maybe that sounded bad."

"Duh! That doesn't just sound BAD, that sounds like a LAME excuse!" Zandia said pinching the bridge of her nose, "I'm getting a headache."

Ranma chuckled then groaned, "Join the club."

Kikori sighed again, "Let me help you with that headache."

Ranma smiled gratefully, "Thanks Kikori."

Kikori picks up a glass of water and a pill, "Here take some painkillers."

Ranma growled, "You know how I hate modern medicine."

"Fine." Kikori shrugged, "Suffer the pain then."

"Watch me." Ranma said defiantly. After a few moment of silence, Ranma groaned again and clutched his head, "Can't ya just heal me Kikori."

Kikori let out a small laugh, "I have a feeling I need to save up my energy for later. And you know what you told me."

Ranma groaned louder, "I shoulda never told you that."

"Always follow you gut feeling." Kikori smiled and brushed away a few strands of hair away from her face, "Close you eyes, get some rest. You'll be fine later."

Zandia laughed out loud when Ranma curled up into a ball still clutching his head.

"And I thought you're a priestess of healing." Ranma mumbled.

"I am," Kikori replied, "but healing means more than the healing of the body. Your mouth works too quick for you, so I'm healing that aspect of you."

"Stupid priestess' code."

***********************************************************************

"I'm home!" Akane called out cheerfully taking off her shoes at the doorway.

"Welcome back." Kasumi called back, "Ranma is out in the Dojo with his friends."

**Maybe I should see how he is doing, I mean he IS a guest after all.** Akane thought to herself, **Yeah, maybe we can spar together again too.**

The youngest Tendo quickly walked towards the Dojo and was greeted by taunts.

"Is that the best you can do Ranma? Seems like your skills have degraded from the last time I've seen you."

"SHUDDAUP!"

"You should just give up Ranma, you're just wasting energy."

Akane blinked and walked into the Dojo, "Um, hey guys."

Kikori turned and greeted Akane, "Hello."

"So what are they doing?" Akane said pointing towards Ranma and his teacher. The two are standing in the middle of the Dojo with their palms pointing at each other.

"They're just practicing," Seeing Akane's confused look, Kikori explained, "The point of this exercise is for Zandia to maintain a magic shield and for Ranma to get through the shield."

Akane squinted her eyes to see a VERY thin light beam coming from Ranma coming to an abrupt stop in front of Zandia's palm.

"You should give up Ranma, I'm not even trying here." Zandia taunted despite the perspiration that Akane sees.

"I can beat you this time!" Ranma said with sweat dripping down his chin.

Kikori shrugged helplessly, "What can I say, Ranma is stubborn."

Akane giggled as Ranma finally collapsed, "You can say THAT again."

Zandia let her hand go slack and takes a deep breath, "Well, seems like you DID improve Ranma."

Ranma gave his teacher a grin, "Yeah, guess I did."

"Well, I'm proud of you Ranma," Zandia said with a smile, "Just don't tell Landal I said that."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Ranma chuckled, "I don't have a death wish ya know Angel-sensei."

"I KNEW there is a reason why I like you." Zandia said with a smirk.

Kikori walked towards her exhausted partner, "Well, you're just fatigued, nothing wrong with you."

Ranma gave her a grin, "I know."

Akane sighed, "Well guess I can't ask you for a sparring match now can I?"

Ranma blinked, "Well not until I'm all rested anyway."

"I guess I'll practice by myself then." Akane said walking back into the house, "I need to change into my Gi first."

***********************************************************************

"Wow, so you are Sensei's last student?" 

Ranma blinked and gave the girl a grin, "Yep, so how are ya doing with her training? Tough huh?"

The girl nodded, "But I'm gonna be the BEST just like sensei!"

Ranma chuckled, "Well I bet you will. You'll even beat a Caller one day and even Zandia can't do that yet!"

"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT MY NAME!"

Ranma winced, "sorry Angel-sensei."

The girl giggled, "My name is Ukiko."

"I'm Ranma 'Kiko-chan." Ranma said patting the girl's head, "You remember what I told you if Angel-sensei does bad stuff to you?"

"YEP!" Ukiko said smiling brightly, "I call Landal or I call you!"

Ranma grinned, "Good girl." 

Ranma looks at the girl studying her magical aura. Ukiko blushed at the intense stare that Ranma is giving her, "What are you looking at?"

Ranma smiled at the apprentice mage, "You'll be a good mage, just remember, don't abuse your power when you learn new spells."

"I will!"

"And where is your traveling robe that the tower gave you!" Ranma scolded the small girl.

"Angel-sensei says that I dun need it." Ukiko said happily, "She says I can wear whatever I want."

Ranma sighed, "Not only does she make ME into a problem student, she has to make HER into one to."

Ukiko giggled again seeing her Ranma mumble dejectedly, "Sempai, have you ever traveled alone?"

Ranma looked at the girl curiously, "Sempai?"

Ukiko nodded happily, "Yep! So have you?"

Ranma shook his head, "I don't think so. I've traveled with Sensei when I got into the tower, then I was paired up with Kikori." Ranma turned to the girl and smiled, "Do YOU want to travel alone?"

Ukiko shook her head enthusiastically, "No way! I'm going to travel with my best friends! And we're gonna go hunt dragons and catch bad people!"

A chuckle escaped Ranma, "Yes, you'll do that."

"And I'm going to be famous just like sensei!"

Ranma continue to smile as Ukiko continue to list the things she'll do when she reaches 3rd circle.

****

Papa!

Yes Ranma?

When I'm the best I'm going to go inta tournaments!

Of course.

And sis is going inta them too!

Yes and when you get the cup, we'll all drink from it!

YAY!

**Just like me**

***********************************************************************

"You ok Ranma?" Kikori asks as she opens to door to the room Ranma was given to see him sitting up, cross legged, and Ukiko jumping around excitedly.

"Then I'm going ta be rich!"

"Yes, and you'll still remember me then right?"

Kikori couldn't help but smile, "Yes, and Ranma will become fat and useless so you'll need to take care of him."

Ranma scrawled and Ukiko just giggled madly, "I'll take care of Sempai! I promise!"

"Don't forget Kikori!" Ranma said putting a grin on his face, "She'll turn inta those old wrinkly priestess just like in the tower! You need to take care of old ugly people too!"

"Okay!" Ukiko said cheerfully, "I'm going to take care of you and you and Sensei!"

Kikori sat down beside Ranma before glaring at him, "Ukiko-chan, go find your Sensei, she says she has your next lesson ready."

"Kay!"

The two mages watched as the young apprentice mage rushed out of the room waving her arms in the air yelling out 'Angel-sensei!'

"What was that about me getting old and wrinkly?" Kikori said continue to glare into Ranma.

"Hehe, I'm just kidding Kikori!" Ranma said waving his hands in front of him, "I'm sure you'll age so good all the women in the tower will be jealous of you!"

"Flatterer." Kikori said with a blush.

"Well at least you have a plan C now." Ranma said casually, "If you DO turn old and wrinkly, and I've turned fat and weak, we can always go to Ukiko."

Kikori frowned and gave Ranma a light whack on the head, "Hush Ranma, you were doing good not sticking you foot in your mouth for a second there."

Ranma gave his partner a grin leaning towards her a bit, "What else can I do if I can't tease my favorite priestess!"

"I'm the ONLY priestess you know on a first name basis Ranma." Kikori said flatly and punches him playfully, "You know, I'm getting a feeling that something is going to happen."

Ranma turned to look at Kikori who has a concerned look, "Don't worry about it, if worst comes to worst, I'll suffer a month of torture from Zandia to get her to help us."

Kikori giggled.

"I HEARD THAT RANMA!"

Ranma sighed, "What does she have? Hyper sensitive hearing if it is her name?"

Kikori sighed and laid down on the floor, "I bet she just cast a spell on all her students so she knows when they say her name."

"That'll be creepy." Ranma replied and lay down beside her. 

"So."

"So."

The two mages turned to each other and blushed.

***********************************************************************

Like most mages, Kikori and Ranma both are very sensitive to danger and bad omens that are near them, so this is NOT an exception when Kikori said something bad is going to happen.

"We're here."

"Yes, the Tendo Dojo."

"We will prove to the WORLD that we are the best."

The two figures pushed away their hoods from their cape revealing a man and a woman. The woman has black hair with brown strands of hair up front. Her blue eyes sparkled in excitement. The man also has black hair but without the light brown strands of hair. His eyes, like his partner, are blue.

"Come sister, we have a fight to fight."

"Yes, his shall be one of the last Dojos we shall challenge."

"And after it's defeat, we will have no trouble beating the rest."

The two smiled and followed the sign's instructions to enter from the side door.

***********************************************************************

Ranma and Kikori walked slowly towards the Dojo. Both look towards the ground while they walked side by side not unlike a new couple.

"So what were you two love birds doing alone in that room?" Zandia said teasingly and Ukiko just gave her sensei a weird look.

Ranma blushed, "She was just checking up on me."

Kikori nodded.

  
"Are you sure she's not CHECKING you?" Zandia said with a wink.

"Ah, get off her case Angel-sensei." Ranma said quickly leading Kikori to the Dojo, "I promised Akane that I will practice with her and Kikori wanted to watch."

Zandia shrugged, "Do what you want."

The two quickly evacuated the area and shuffled into the Dojo, "Hey Akane."

The girl stopped in the middle of her practice and turned, "Hey Kikori, hey Ranma."

"Ya ready ta spar again?" Ranma said excitedly.

"Are you su-." Akane was interrupted by a knock on the side door, "A challenger?"

Ranma raised an eyebrow, "Wow, people still challenges Dojos?"

Kikori shrugged, "I guess so. I mean it IS a good way to make a name of yourself if you're not a mage."

Ranma blinked, "Now THAT is something I've never thought ya think about."

The priestess blushed.

"Hey Kikori, why don't ya get Mr.Tendo, he might want to be here for the challenger.

Kikori nodded and followed Ranma's instructions.

"Just step this way please." Akane said as she entered the Dojo once again. Two people in brown capes follow her.

"If you wait for a moment, my father will be with you in a second." Akane said politely.

"I told Kikori to get Mr.Tendo." Ranma said stopping Akane from getting her father.

The two martial artists take off their cloak. The man is wearing a black sleeveless shirt and black pants. The woman is wearing a white T-shirt contrasting the man and skintight black pants that reach just above her knees.

"Those two look familiar." Ranma muttered and racked his brain to figure out where he's seen the two people.

"'ve never had a challenger for quite some time now." Ranma stood and greeted his host.

"Mr.Tendo."

"I'm assuming that you are the challengers?" Soun said looking at the two people.

Kikori studied the two and her eyes widened, "I KNOW YOU!"

Ranma blinked, "We know them?"

Kikori nodded frantically, "Those two are the ones that claimed to have beaten mages in a two on two duel!"

Ranma turned to study the two once again, "Wow, with pure martial arts skills?"

The priestess nodded, "But I don't really know who they manage to defeat."

Soun blinked, "I've never heard of people using pure martial arts to beat a mage before."

Ranma shrugged, "That happens, lots of mages have been beaten by martial artists with magically imbued items. Only a hand full can beat mages with pure skill."

The two challengers blinked, "I see you've heard of us." The man said with a smirk.

"I assume that you two are from the mage tower?" The girl said with smirk not unlike the man.

The two mages nodded in unison.

"Then it seems that our trip here is more than what we've expected." The man said, "We challenge you two to a duel, then we'll challenge the Dojo!"

Ranma shrugged, "Okay. You ok with that Kikori?"

Kikori gave Ranma a small nod, "Before we begin. May I ask which mage you have beaten?"

The girl nodded, "We have beaten the pair with the names Lathia and Logan."

Ranma winced, "I see."

Kikori mirrored Ranma's expression, "Well we accept."

"I guess we can't back out huh?" Ranma said replacing his wince with a confident smile. Ranma held his hand out with his palm out towards Kikori, "Shall we?"

Kikori gave Ranma a small smile and nodded, "Since we are challenged, can we choose the place of the duel?"

The two challengers nodded and say in unison, "You may."

***********************************************************************

Ranma and Kikori stood side by side in an open field. Kikori has her pendent out in her hand. The chain is wrapped around her hand twice leaving the small gem with a small amount of chain to dangle from. 

On the sidelines, everyone of the Tendo family with Zandia and her pupil stood in anticipation of the fight.

The challengers stood opposite of them holding a smirk, "I am Patrick Matthew Scotts."

"And I am Patty Mandus Scotts!"

"We are the Scotts twins! And we challenge you!" The twins said pointing their fingers at the two mages in perfect unison.

Ranma snickered but tries to prevent himself from laughing. Kikori shook her head, "Ranma behave."

"Bu-but, Pah, pah." Ranma couldn't stop himself anymore and starts to roll on the round laughing.

Kikori gave Ranma a glare, "RANMA!"

"N-name. I-initial." Ranma gasped.

Kikori frowned and then blushed immediately.

Zandia, being the mature and wise mage that she is, laughed uncontrollably, "PMS! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA."

The rest of the audience gave a 'Ah' before blushing. Ukiko just stared at the grown-ups beside her and gave a 'you are all weird' look.

The two twins growled and screamed, "JUST GET ON WITH IT!"

Ranma coughed, snickered, and gathered himself, "I am Ranma Saotome of the Kyoto Mage tower."

"I am Kikori Sekihara of the Kyoto Mage tower."

"We accept your challenge." Ranma said for the two and steps forward putting himself between the two martial artists and his partner.

Soun steps out, "Since this is an unusual challenge, all skills are to be allowed but they must not be maiming or lethal. If these skills are used, then they will be immediately disqualified." 

The competitors nodded in agreement to the rules.

"Ready?" 

"Begin!"

***********************************************************************

"Kikori defensive." Ranma whispered and got into a defensive Akido stance.

The priestess nodded, "_Goddess of healing, grant me a favor, let all that I try to protect be at constant peace._"

Kikori closed her eyes and continues to chant her spell, "_Weary limbs, strong of will. Let the body rest and the mind heal..._"

Ranma smiled as Kikori begins her spell.

**Good, only need to hold out for a few minutes.**

***********************************************************************

The two martial artists wasted no time and immediately charge the two mages. To their surprise, the only person casting a spell is the priestess and the boy in red got into an Akido stance.

"Patty, lets split up, at least we won't be caught by one spell."

Patty nodded and jumps to the right and launches herself right towards the priestess.

Patrick mirrored his sister and launched himself towards Ranma. Deciding not to waste any more time, he gives Ranma a quick simple combo that Ranma deftly counters and throws him away. Seeing that simple won't get him Patrick picks himself up and goes for a more complex combo only to find that Ranma isn't facing him anymore but his sister.

Patty smiled as she almost reached the priestess and decided to knock her out with a quick punch but found her blow being blocked by Ranma. Glancing at her brother, she sees him recovering from the ground and quickly found herself being thrown away too.

The two twins have the same thought in their minds, **Attack together!**

***********************************************************************

Ranma smiled at the shocked expression on the two faces, **Oh I LOVE it when they get all surprised when I throw them**. 

"_I call forth the wind, come, GATHER!_" Ranma said with calmly holding both of his hands above his head. A green globe of magic appeared and starts to grow in a rapid rate. The two martial artists charged at the same time all of them at Ranma. "_RELEASE!_" 

The pig tailed mage pulled both his hands down, splitting the ball into two smaller ones, and fired them at the same time towards the charging martial artists. 

The two barely manage to get out of the way by ducking down and rolling on the floor. Not wasting the opportunity, Ranma immediately uttered another spell, "_Wind, you are the weapon of death!_" Ranma swings his arm at Patrick guiding the magic blade towards him.

"_I call upon the weapon of nature!_" With his free arm, Ranma pointed it towards Patty and fires a wave of air pressure at her.

The two, seeing their situation, jumped upwards, completely dodging the spells. Flipping in the air, the two met each other and plummets downward towards the priestess attempting to get her with a flying kick.

"_I call forth the barrier of souls!_" Ranma yelled pointing both his palms towards the sky. The air over Kikori and himself became distorted and shimmered. The wall of air blocks the two flying kicks successfully but left Ranma open to any attack from the ground. Patty grinned did a sweep kick at Ranma immediately after she touched the ground.

Not recovering fast enough from the spell Ranma was brought to the ground by Patty's sweep kick. **Damn, left myself open!**

Patrick smirked and went for a knock out punch on Kikori only to find the chanting priestess dodge to the right with her eyes closed. 

Ranma rolled to the side dodging another stomp from Patty, "_Wings of Angels! Carry me!_" Ranma shot up into the air, knocking Patty aside, floating near the ground, **Too bad I can't cast that on Kikori without risking disrupting her spell.**

The pig tailed mage swoops downward towards Patrick and attempted a kick which the martial artist dodged, "Didn't ya hear it's impolite ta hit a woman while she has her eyes closed?"

Both Patty and Patrick got up and positioned themselves on either side of Ranma and Kikori. "Kikori, jump backwards when they come."

The priestess nodded and continues to chant, her pendent still glowing dimly.

"Time to finish this fight don't you think?" Ranma shouted for his opponents to hear.

"Yes I agree." Patrick said.

"Then lets get the show on the road!" Ranma said, "_Fury of earth, I call upon thy power!_"

The twins frowned and immediately go for the kill trying to prevent Ranma from completing the spell and got into punching range of Ranma already completely forgetting the priestess. 

Kikori jumped back just like Ranma has instructed while Ranma jumped forward taking all the pressure of the two martial artist.

**Just like taking candy from Kikori**. Ranma grinned as the twins followed him. Suddenly he jumps into the air, assisted by his flight spell, and lands behind Kikori. Ranma points his hands on the ground in front of Kikori at the same time Kikori held her arms up as her spell comes to an end. "_Lend me your strength and protect me from which that I cannot stop!_"

Holding on to Kikori's waist preventing her from being caught by the spell, Ranma watched from between Kikori's head and arm as the two martial artist was blown back by the magical tornado which died down quickly.

"_...let those that are unwilling be willing, let dreams take over. Grant them the bliss of unconsciousness!_" Kikori gasped as the magic of her goddess surged through her into her pendent. A white aura appeared around the two fallen martial artists and faded away when a yellow glow appeared around the two flickered away.

"You got them." Ranma whispered. Kikori moaned softly and fell right onto Ranma who still has his arms on her waist.

"I'm still awake, just shaking off that feeling." Kikori said laying her head on Ranma's shoulder.

"That weird one when you feel all tingly from all the magic?" Ranma asked.

"Yes, that one." Kikori sighed.

***********************************************************************

Soun walked up to check up on the two fallen challengers and nodded signaling the end of the fight.

Ranma smirked and nudged at Kikori, who stood back up, "Well that was easy."

Kikori nodded.

"Easy?" The Tendos said bewildered, "But I thought they can beat mages!"

Zandia shook her head and snickered, "Yes they did."

Ukiko frowned, "But I thought Lathia and Logan are Funkies!"

Ranma chucked, "Angel Sensei, have you been teaching Kiko-chan bad words."

Kikori frowned at Zandia disapprovingly, "You should be ashamed of yourself teaching young girls like this such language!"

Zandia sweatdropped, "I think you're trying to say FLUNCKIES right?"

"Uun." Ukiko nodded happily, "Funkies!"

"So they failed?" Nabiki deadpanned.

Kikori nodded, "Not only did they fail, their the only pair that manage to get a zero on the magic theory test and completely screwed up a light spell, which all classes of mages know."

Ranma nodded, "The last I've heard of them they we're still in the tower thinking they past the test and that the tower is giving them special training."

"They still are." Zandia said, "I still feel sorry for the mage that needed to hear Lathia cry when she was beaten by these two."

"Yeah! I heard that mage was still trying to sue those two for making his left ear completely deaf!" Ranma said with a chuckle.

Nabiki's eyes twitched, "So in other words, they can't really beat mages."

Kikori shook her head, "Not with THEIR skill."

Ranma smirked, "Not facing US!"

***********************************************************************

The Dojo is filled with orange light giving it a heavenly look. Its still air is not disturbed by even a single speck of dust, but that is about to change.

Nabiki snickered as she and Zandia walked into the Dojo, "So let me get this straight, even IF the 'PMS squad' can actually beat a mage, they probably still can't beat Ranma and Kikori?"

Zandia nodded, "They may not know it, but Ranma and Kikori is the best pair that has ever partnered up in the history of the mage tower."

"Really?"

"Yep! If they go full out, they can probably beat one of the council members," Zandia said nodding, "They just don't know it. Ranma thinks they are really good, but not THAT good. Kikori doesn't think like that. I guess they turned out to be this good is because of the trust they have for each other and how they act like one."

"They know each other THAT well?" Nabiki said hoping to get some information on the two.

"Yep, they've been friends since..." Zandia stopped, "No, you should just ask Ranma. Kikori will give you the date, she has REALLY good memory, but Ranma can give you more detail."

"Huh?"

"There are things about Ranma that even Kikori don't know." Zandia said, "I don't think anyone knows everything about Ranma except himself."

Nabiki nodded, carefully considering Zandia's words.

***********************************************************************

"Huh?" Ranma said giving a clueless look.

Cologne chuckled, "I still have a job to do as elder of the Chinese Amazons young talent."

"So you're going back to China?" Kikori asked politely.

"Yes I am," Cologne nodded, "But my Great grand daughter will be staying with you."

"Okay." Ranma shrugged, "Oh yeah, can Shampoo teach me some of her moves!"

Cologne frowned, "I thought your talent is to summon?"

"No like martial arts move!" Ranma said excitedly, "I can learn a lot from her!"

Kikori rolled her eyes, "Isn't summoning and your spirit magic enough for you? Or are you THAT power hungry?"

"HEY! I'm just continue my studies as a martial artist!" Ranma huffed, "So can she?"

Cologne pondered for a bit, "I guess she may. Well, I will be departing next evening so I think you can have your room back."

Ranma and Kikori bowed, "It's been a pleasure meeting you elder."

"Yeah, nice meetin' ya old ghoul." Ranma said earning him a whack from Cologne's staff.

"Insolent child." Cologne said with a smile, "Plus, I'm not going back YET."

Ranma grinned sheepishly, "Well, I guess I should head back to the Tendos, See ya!"

Kikori watched as Ranma ran off towards the Tendo Dojo before gasping, "I forgot! RANMA!"

Cologne placed a hand on the priestess's shoulder, "I know you heard us last night."

Kikori froze, "I... I have to tell him!"

The elder shook her head, "You can't, it's his path, he must find his own way."

"Even if-."

"Even if it will bring him pain to follow the path."

Kikori sighed in defeat, "Yes elder."

**So, to find happiness, he'll have to face more pain. Would he be still alive inside after facing so much?**

***********************************************************************

**Is she the one that the council thinks will give them the one that holds peace? The one that wields the power of the ancients?** Zandia frowned as she remembered the last part of the battle with Ranma's hands on a glowing Kikori's waist and Kikori, holding her arms up in the air, gasping.

**Are they trying to FORCE the prophecy to work by bringing those two together?** The Angel sorceress shook her head, **If they are then they must be VERY good, Kikori and Ranma are like two parts of one. Powerful when they are together. Wait... together... Oh my GOD!**

Zandia gasped, "They wouldn't..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So much guesses by Cologne and Zandia, so much mystery. WHAT IS THE MAGE COUNCIL PLANNING! I know but I won't tell ^^. This chapter I'm trying to show how good Kikori and Ranma teaming up REALLY is and one of the reasons why they are teamed up. I also want to show that magic ISN'T all-powerful in this Ranma world, it's just that it's easier for mages to get powerful than martial artists are. Other than those two facts, I'm just trying to go along with the story now. Not too much more introduction to this world is needed I think. So I'll be going to the REAL adventures pretty soon starting with Dun dun DUN! Can't tell ya! ^^.

The spell Kikori used this chapter is a sleep spell that is unique to priestess of healing. This spell makes the target fall asleep willing or unwilling. Usually this spell's cast time is VERY fast, but that is only if it's targeted to a willing person. Otherwise, against strong willed people, they spell needs to charge up more power before it is released. 

Well next chapter, Ranma and Kikori's face the first REAL challenge! Cologne is going back to China! Zandia is once again training her student! And of course, Shampoo is... sighing?


	11. Chapter 11

"I guess we'll be seeing you another time Elder." Kikori said respectfully. The sun has already set and the moon shines brightly illuminating Kikori's dyed hair. Cologne came to the airport with only her great grand daughter, Ranma, and Kikori mostly because Zandia doesn't like good byes. The Tendos don't know her too well and of course Ukiko can't go anywhere without her sensei.

"Yes, I have a feeling that we will see very soon." Cologne said confidently, "I sense lots of distress from the people of the world. That is usually a sign something big is going to happen soon."

Ranma nodded, "All the spirits tells me the same thing, so does Artricia as a matter of fact."

Shampoo blinked, "Spirits tells you of the future?"

Ranma shook his head, "Nope, they just tell me the feeling they get from the ethereal realm, usually their right, but they are wrong a lot of times too."

"I don't think I can talk any longer, plane isn't going to wait for me after all." Cologne said, "Don't let my heir free load of you, make her work for her living."

"Great grand mother!" Shampoo whined, "I won't do no such thing!"

"Naw, Shampoo's cool, she can work if she likes." Ranma said casually, "Your flight should be leaving soon, you should get going old ghoul."

WHAP!  


"Insolent child." Cologne smirked, "Keep training young talent, don't want this old lady to find you slacking off now do you?"

The pigtailed boy smirked in reply, "Yeah right, like I'd slack off."

"Yes, Ranma is quite obsessive about certain things." Kikori said seriously, "Unfortunately, when it comes to training, he goes BEYOND obsessive."

Cologne cackled, "I really must go."

"Good bye great grand mother."

"Good bye Elder."

"See ya Ghoul!"

Cologne shook her head, "I'll let you say that once without getting hit, don't expect me to give you anymore freebies."

Ranma grinned, "I know."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act 1: Chapter 11

What the HECK is THAT!

"My lord," A dark gurgled voice spoke. Its voice echoed through the dark and empty hall, "The Long Sen Dao has been located, it's power used."

"Good." A red haired man smiled in anticipation, "So the Mage tower finally forgot about the Sword. Tell me, where is it?"

"Tendo Dojo, Nerima." The voice replied.

"This will become the tower's downfall." The man smirked and stood up. He is wearing a gray shirt with a pair of faded jeans, "We depart for Nerima now."

"Yessss Mi'lord." The voice hissed, three pairs of golden eyes glowed in the shadow, "He is there too."

"Would he help us?"

"No, his loyalty is still with the tower." The gurgled voice replied with absolute certainty. 

"Then it would be an honor to fight him." The man chuckled, "Yes, a great honor."

***********************************************************************

Ranma sighed dejectedly as he sat on the couch staring at nothing, "This can't be happening."

Kikori rolled her eyes, "Oh come on, it's just another mission."

Zandia and her student watched as Ranma and Kikori both sighed.

"See, even YOU'RE sighing!" Ranma said pointingly.

"Well, I was getting comfortable here you know." Kikori retorted, "So what is this mission anyway?"

Ranma licked his lips, "I think it's better to show you yourself."

Ranma reached into his shirt pocket and brought out a scroll and placed it on the table opened. The air above the scroll winked as if a screen has been turned on. A face of an old man appeared, his head is still filled with hair despite his apparent old age.

"Spirit mage Saotome, Priestess Sekihara. By order of the council, you have a new assignment." The face spoke with a commanding voice, "We have reason to believe that the heir of an old foe of the Mage tower has came out of hiding and is headed towards Nerima and we want you to prevent this person from reaching his goal and to report to us."

Kikori nodded to herself.

**Just like all our other missions.**

"However, if you are to fail in this mission, you will report to us and the tower will send you help to put a stop to this man's plan. The Chinese mage tower has also agreed to help us in this endeavor so the Mind mage Shampoo shall also help you in this mission along with a imbuer that would be joining you shortly."

Shampoo, who has been quiet for the whole time gasped, "No, not him."

"Best of luck, may the goddess and spirits watch over the two of you."

The image winked out leaving a pale Amazon and a thoughtful Priestess, "Well Gramps hasn't changed one bit." Ranma said with another sigh.

"I should hit you for calling the council member of the spirit mage with such disrespect Ranma." Zandia scrawled, "But since he DID take you in, he IS your relative in a sense."

"Aww, Angel sensei, are you jealous that I don't call you my beautiful older and more mature sister?" Ranma said sarcastically.

"Quit asking for trouble Ranma." Kikori said disapprovingly, "Looks like we're going to do patrol again."

Shampoo continues to look pale and mumbles over and over again, "Not him, not him, not him."

"What's with her?" Ranma asked pointing to the Amazon.

The other girls shrugged.

"Is it that time of month?"

Shampoo snaps out of her stupor and pulls out a bon bori out of no where and hits Ranma on the head, "Stupid male."

Ranma clutched his head, "Well it's a legit question!"

WHAM!

"No is not!" Shampoo growled before returning to her mantra.

Kikori shook her head, "When will you learn?"

***********************************************************************

"So tell me again why we need to pick this guy up?" Ranma asked, annoyed.

"If this imbuer is who I think he is, then we'll need to BE here to make sure he actually made it." Shampoo said confidently, "I guess it can be thought to be a blessing that he doesn't make it."

Ranma blinked, "So he's like Ryoga? REALLY bad sense of direction?"

Kikori shook her head, "Only the Hibiki family can have THAT sense of direction. I doubt it's another of Ryoga's family."

Shampoo nodded, "You'll see when he gets here."

The three mages watched as people poured out of the exit of the airport. Shampoo grimaced as a boy wearing a white robe walks out of the exit and continuously pumping into people.

"Sorry ma'am... Sorry sir... Sorry." 

"Oh brother." Shampoo muttered dejectedly, "He made it."

Kikori blinked, "Why is he saying sorry sir to that women over there?"

"And that guy doesn't look ANYTHING like a women." Ranma said bewildered.

"That's Mousse, for you." Shampoo sighed sadly, "I just hope he's over that crush."

Ranma's eyebrows shot up, "Crush?"

"SHAMPOO! YOU'VE COME FOR ME!" 'Mousse' shouted and leaped into the air right towards Kikori.

"_I call upon the weapon of nature_." Ranma called as his left eyebrow twitched and shot his spell towards Mousse 'guiding' him back to the path he intends to take, "That's the girl your suppose to lunge for."

Shampoo shot Ranma a nasty look, pulled out her bon bori, and smashed Mousse to the pavement, "Stupid Mousse."

Kikori blinked, "So what is wrong with him?"

"He has vision problems." Shampoo said wiry, "He can't read a sign even if his life depended on it."

"Why doesn't he just get laser surgery?" Ranma said shaking his head.

"Too prideful." The mind mage replied.

"I thought men in your village were not." Ranma said.

Shampoo blinked, "Is a misconception of Amazons. Many of our males are very talented mages or martial artists, sometimes both. They just don't hold important political roles. But without them our village won't be able to survive since all of our merchants, doctors, and teachers are mostly male. So many males are very proud of themselves."

Ranma and Kikori nodded understandingly, "Still, you REALLY shouldn't hit him so hard."

Mousse groaned and shook his head, "OH SHAMPOO!"

Ranma twitched as Mousse latched on to him.

"When did you get so flat-chested?"

Shampoo smirked, "You were saying Ranma?"

"I'm going to tear him a new one!" Ranma growled, "_Powers of uninhibited winds, thy powers are at my call. Come to me oh winds of destruction, SHOW THE UNWORTHY OUR POWER!_"

Kikori sighed and conjured up a shield spell in front of herself and Shampoo.

Ranma's eyes glows green as a spell circle appeared below him. Wind blows violently towards the circle and rushing upwards creating a funnel of wind. Within the funnel green lines of magic streaks upwards, hitting anything that gets in its way: namely Mousse.

"That is overkill." Kikori said shaking her head while protecting innocent bystanders while they stare at the show of power.

"What spell is that?" Shampoo asked bewildered, "It's so powerful!"

Ranma ended the spell with a happy sigh, "MAN I need to do this more often!" The pig-tailed mage turned to see a VERY battered Mousse, "You lucky I didn't use full power, or it'll literally rip your ass apart."

"You didn't have to use your big four on him you know." Kikori said, "So what if he hugged you? It's not like he did it when you're a girl."

Ranma growled, "It's a matter of ethics! I can't let a guy hug me like that without beating him up badly! It's like you can't let a guy get away with nothing when they grope you."

Shampoo continues to stare at Ranma, "I'm glad you didn't use THAT when we fought."

Ranma grinned, "I always have something up my sleeves. This happens to be the one I use a lot of times."

"Especially when he's annoyed" The priestess noted, "You messed him up, you pick him up."

Ranma grumbled, "Yeah yeah, I know."

***********************************************************************

"Let's set some ground rules here." Kikori said with a commanding voice, "No proclaiming love while we're working or inside this house."

Ranma snickered and pretended to get love struck, "Oh Kikori, I love you!"

The priestess glared at Ranma, "Rule number two, no unprovoked hugging."

Ranma snickered again before leaping into the air and placed a hug on his partner. 

Kikori blushed before bopping Ranma on the head, "Don't fool around! I'm serious here!"

"How come he gets to proclaim love and hug his partner!" Mousse complained.

"He CAN'T!" Kikori said with surpressed anger, "He isn't even serious!"

"Oh chill you two." Ranma said, "Our target isn't even NEAR Nerima yet."

Kikori moaned and clutched her head as she felt a wave of dark power, "You were saying?"

Shampoo closed her eyes, "I feel excitement from our target, like he is about to get something."

"Corruption, dark spirits are gathering here." Ranma said darkly, "The tower didn't say our target was a CSM."

"CSM?" Shampoo frowned.

"Corrupted Spirit mage," Kikori answered, "They wield the corrupted version of spirit mage's spells. Their powers usually cancel out spirit mages, but if they are hit with normal spirit mage's spells then they get drained badly vice versa."

"They are headed towards the high school." Ranma said standing up, "Lets go."

***********************************************************************

Ranma lead the four of them to Furinkin high school to find their target already standing in the middle of the school yard waiting for them, "I've been expecting you Saotome."

"Huh?" 

"Wow, that sounded really bad, but I really wanted to say that once." The red headed man said with a smirk, "But really, your late."

Ranma growled, "Feh, so eager to be beaten?"

"Nah, but I KNOW your partner knows where the Long Sen Dao is." The man grinned, "So would that priestess please kindly tell me so I can get this over with?"

Kikori narrowed her eyes, "I'll tell you in the next Century."

"Touchy." 

The pig-tailed mage glared openly at their target, "Who are you."

"That would be telling now wouldn't it." The man smirked, "So I'm guessing you won't be telling me where the sword is?"

"Shampoo, Mousse, go back to the shop." Ranma said, "Me and Kikori will hold him back."

"The shop huh?" The man shook his head, "I was hoping you'd be smarter than that."

Ranma continue to glare at the man, "Well, you won't be able to go there since I'll be stopping you."

"Just admit it, either of us can really beat each other," The man said, "Too bad your not the only one to have help. COME!"

Ranma gasped tackled Kikori to the ground just in time to save her from a dark blur the sped towards her.

"Your as good as they say Saotome." The man grinned before running out of the yard, "Enjoy your fight."

Ranma cursed but cheered himself for leading the man to the wrong place.

"We meet again."

Time froze for Ranma as he heard the gurgled voice. His whole body starts to shake. His fist clenched so tightly, blood was having a hard time getting to it.

"I see you remember me young mage."

Kikori stood up and turned to her attacker, "My goddess."

A red aura burst from Ranma's body as he turned around, "Kalda."

Kikori continue to gap at the sight in front of her.

**A three headed dog! No... not dog, more like a lizard with three wolf heads!**

"Kalda." The pig-tailed mage screamed in rage. 

Kikori turned to her partner to see him surround by a red aura, "You've seen this thing before Ranma?"

Ranma ignored his partner, "_POWERS OF WIND, I WIELD THEE! SHOW ME THY STRENGHT! LEND ME THY WEAPON!_"

Ranma's whole hand glows an eerie gold color. Slowly, the glow extends into a long wide blade.

"New trick mage?" all three heads of Kalda spoke calmly in unison, "It doesn't matter, I've done my job."

Ranma snarled and charged the creature, "DIE!"

The left head snorted and made the ground in front of him to explode knocking Ranma back, "Still as reckless as ever mage. I'll fight you another day."

Ranma picked himself up just in time to see Kalda teleports away, "DAMNIT! KALDA, COME BACK AND FIGHT!"

Kikori stared at her partner as he continues to scream in frustration.

**What is going on?**

Ranma hits the ground in anger as his red aura fades slowly, tears rolled down his eyes, "Damnit... come back..."

Kikori wrapped her hands around the crying Ranma, "Come on, we need to make sure Shampoo and Mousse is all right."

Ranma nodded mechanically and stood up, following Kikori's lead towards their little magic shop.

***********************************************************************

"Mousse stop!" Shampoo ordered, "Our target is following us."

"Ah, you stopped," The man said cheerfully, "So are we near the Long Sen Dao yet?"

Shampoo smirked, "I doubt it."

"It doesn't matter, I know where it is anyways." The man shrugged, "Just want to mess you mages."

All expression from the Amazon fades away with a few calming breathes, "Then I guess we'll have to stop you ourselves."

Mousse nodded in agreement as he withdrew his hands into his sleeves, "And I assure you that the two of us are more than a challenge for the likes of you."

The man laughed, "You two? I doubt that. _Winds of darkness, awaken from thy long slumber._"

Mousse wastes no time and threw a volley of rocks at the Dark mage who deftly dodges all the throws. The rocks exploded as the landed on the ground leaving scorch marks on the cement road.

"_All light is at an end. All breezes turn to storms!_"

Shampoo's eyes glows as she tries to send 'psychic hits' towards the man only to find out that his clothes are enchanted to withstand any form of mind magic.

"_Rise dark wind, show all no mercy!_"

Wind rushed from the sky on to the ground, ripping it apart. The chunks of cement floats in mid-air surrounded by an aura of magic.

The two amazons cursed themselves for letting the mage finish his spell, "Great, now we're in for it." Mousse commented casually and threw another volley of enchanted rocks towards the float chunks of cement.

The dark mage smiled, "So predictable."

The enchanted rocks hit the cement, but unlike the other time, the rocks slowed down and float in the air with the cement.

"And I thank you for your magic." The man waved his hands forward disintegrating everything that was floating leaving a massive ball of magic.

"Enjoy the pain." The mage smirked and the ball of magic shot forward and slammed into the two amazons. The ball of magic didn't disappear like the other spells as it continue to slam into the two amazons, "This is a personal favorite of mine, I was hoping to try it on Saotome, but I wanted to test the spell out first. Hope you don't mind being my test subjects."

Shampoo manages to roll away from the relentless attack of the magical ball and jumped towards the dark mage armed with her bon bori, "I wouldn't celebrate just yet."

The mage raised his hand and summoned a wave of wind and knocks Shampoo towards the ball of magic that has been trailing her, "You should listen to yourself. Despite the entertainment here, I must be going to get the sword. Tell Saotome I said hello and ask for me if he liked my present to him."

***********************************************************************

Kikori gasp and rushed towards the two fallen Amazons, "Shampoo! Mousse!"

Ranma stood passively to the side and watched as Kikori tend to the two fallen mages.

"Ugh, stupid Mousse." Shampoo groaned and stood up, "He knows where the sword is already. He's taken it."

Kikori bit her lip, "I'll contact the Mage tower."

Shampoo shook Mousse violently and slaps him a few times, "Mousse is out cold, won't wake up."

Ranma nodded and picks him up, "Lets go, we'll go to the Tendo house after we leave him at our place."

Shampoo nodded, "Maybe I should go check on the Tendo family as you put him back?"

"No, ya don't know how they work, they lie, they trick." Ranma said with disgust in his voice, "He might be hiding right now hoping we will go to the Tendo residences and lead him right to the sword."

"So we have better chance of stopping him if we are together." Shampoo said understandingly, "I see..."

"Actually, I'm certain he has the sword already," Ranma commented, "But just in case."

***********************************************************************

Ranma walked into the Tendo Residence with Shampoo to find Kasumi laying on the couch unconscious and Soun beaten to unconsciousness.

"I was right... unfortunately." Ranma said, "Lets go, we have a sword thief to track."

"What about-"

"They'll wake up and find us. They need the rest after that." Ranma said calmly, "We need to find Kikori and give her an update."

The pig-tailed mage takes up his cell phone and punch in some numbers, "Hey Kikori, Tendo place is raided, he has the sword."

Shampoo watched Ranma from beside him as they walked slowly back to the shop. "Is Kikori back at the shop?"

Ranma blinked, "Yo Kikori, ya back the shop?"

The Amazon was given a nod, "Is Mousse awake yet?"

Ranma nodded again before speaking into his cell phone again, "Who's our back up on this mission?"

Shampoo sighed as they continue to walk back to the shop. **So powerful, are Mind mages really as they said, too inflexible in their abilities? Are we really so predictable?**

***********************************************************************

Night fell upon Nerima. Stars twinkled cheerfully in the night sky as Ranma and Kikori sat side by side on the rooftop staring at them. The moon was blocked by some clouds making it seem more mysterious than usual.

"Who is Kalda?" Kikori asked suddenly, breaking the calm mood.

Ranma closed his eyes, "Some dog."

Kikori wanted to snort at the reply, "Some DOG? That was a THING!"

"It is a murderer, that is all I need to know." Ranma said sadly, "I will kill it no matter what you say. And I will kill whoever kills it before I do."

"Would you kill me if I killed it?" Kikori said softly.

Ranma turned to his partner and chuckled, "I dun think so. You're my partner, you're, to an extent, me."

Kikori smiled softly, "But why?"

Ranma gave a bitter smile, "I swore to myself that I would avenge my sister, Saiko. Kalda was her killer."

Kikori suddenly felt a cold chill in the air as if something was trying to speak.

Ranma chuckled bitterly, "I'm sorry Saiko, I know your listening, but I won't change my mind. I already killed before. Maybe this would be my last time."

The priestess stared at Ranma, "Rammie..."

"Ki-chan, I have to do this. I promised myself I would."

Kikori was about to say something but rain suddenly drizzled down from the sky changing Ranma into a girl.

"This is why I have to do this," Ranma said smiling at Kikori, "I won't be able to live with myself if I didn't."

Kikori sighed and brought Ranma into a hug, "I still don't know why you're doing this, but I'll help you."

Ranma smiled and kissed Kikori on her forehead, "I know I shouldn't do that, but I really don't know what else to do to."

Kikori blushed, "It's all right. It's not like you have cooties or anything."

Ranma laughed out loud, "That's my line!"

**Maybe after this, Ranma would be happy. Maybe after this, he will lose that sad glimmer in his eyes. Maybe after this, Ranma would always laugh like this without the sadness.** Kikori thought as she laughed with Ranma in the rain. **I always thought that I would be the one to make him forget his sadness being his best friend. I guess I was wrong.**

***********************************************************************

**My past is catching up to me. Have I really been running from it? Why am I running from it? Is it because of her? Or is it because of my father's influence? Maybe it's just because I know that if I follow the route that my past paves out, I would die. This is the beginning. My childhood, the mage tower, Zandia, Kikori. Is everything I know just tools to bring me towards my death? It's not my time yet. The spirits told me so.**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow, dark ending... Damn dark ending for Christmas? I suck! Oh well I guess I'll have to make it up to you guys... here's something to make up for it

****

OMAKE! Rooftop scene! **OMAKE!**

Kikori sighed and brought Ranma into a hug, "I still don't know why you're doing this, but I'll help you."

Ranma smiled and drew Kikori's face towards her own, "I know I shouldn't do this."

  
"Ra-ranma?" Kikori stuttered.

"But I don't know how else to..."

"Ranma STOP!?!?!"

"CUT!"

Ranma blinked, "What? The scrip says to kiss Kikori right?"

"OH THE FOREHEAD YOU IDIOT!"

"Ohhh." Ranma slaps her forehead and reads her script that she pulls out of nowhere, "But it says here that I'm suppose to kiss Kikori on the lip specifically! And what is this about a lemon scene after this?"

On the side, a male Ranma laughed uncontrollably as he held the REAL script, "oh man! C-Can't believe Saiko fell for that!"

"RANMA!"

"Whoops." The REAL Ranma stops laughing and ran out of the set.

"DIE!" Saiko screamed wielding a mallet.

Kikori blinked, "Hey Akane, you lend Saiko your hammer again?"

Akane shrugged, "It's her own, I brought her to that mallet shop I shop in."

****

OMAKE! Fin~ **OMAKE!**

I got that idea from Black Dragon's fic, Directors cut. Really an insane fic that I have no idea what the hell it was talking about. But funny though. Sorry I used the idea without telling you! 

Oh yeah, on a side note. This fic isn't going to go dark from here on in, trust me. I dun like dark fics. I like some of them, dark endings are sometimes nice depending on how dark it is. But really.

Not much stuff to say this time around except mappy X-mas. ^^

Merry Christmas to all and hope you got a better present than me.


	12. Chapter 12

"So let me get this straight," Zandia said seriously, "you four are suppose to wait for some sort of back up for two days to hunt down a sword that has been taken by a Counter Strike Maniac?"

"Corrupted Spirit mage Sensei." Ranma said wiry.

Zandia snorted, "You call them that, I call them Counter Strike Maniacs."

Kikori blinked, "Why?"

"The last one I met up with was playing Counter Strike." Zandia said with disgust in her voice, "Starts muttering something about sending a hell fire blast at some guy playing with him."

Shampoo and Mousse both starts to flip through the Japanese/Chinese dictionary, "Counter Strike? What is it?"

Ranma bursts out laughing seeing the two Amazons looking up the Dictionary.

"Ranma, don't be so rude." Kikori chided.

"What IS counter strike?" Shampoo asked extremely annoyed.

"It's a computer game Shampoo," Zandia said, "Don't you guys have computers back in your village?"

Mousse nodded, "We do. We use them for E-mailing people mostly though, not play games through them. Oh yeah... the elders were thinking of setting up a 'web-site' for us too... whatever that is."

Ranma finally stops laughing as Shampoo shove one of her bon bori right in his face, "Stupid male."

"I told you not to be so rude." The priestess said calmly sipping her cup of tea, "Why does this tea taste funny?"

Ranma gulped, "C-c-coffee..."

The other mages except for Ranma and Kikori blinked.

"You drank Sensei's coffee." Ranma said with fear in his voice.

Kikori's face became blushed as she felt her body start to work over time to use up the excess energy, "I'msosorryzandiaireallyreallyshouldn'tbedrinkingyourcoffeeandallthapleaseforgivemepleasepleaseplease."

"Is that why Kikori drinks tea?" Zandia said as she leans back.

Ranma sighs, "Feh, and they say tea has a higher caffeine content than coffee. It's a conspiracy!"

The two amazons once again flip through their dictionary, "Why Ranma suddenly use words so complicated!"

Mousse shakes his head in frustration, "Don't ask me. All I know is I need a new prescription for my glasses!"

Shampoo gave Mousse a disdainful look, "Oh NOW you realize that!"

"What? You agree that my glass prescription is too powerful too!"

Shampoo only BARELY resists pulling her most powerful spell on her temporary partner, "Stupid male."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act 1: Chapter 12

Just follow the yellow brick road of doom!

Kikori smiled politely at the two mages standing in front of the 'Mystical Dimension', "Hello, I am Kikori Sekihara. Me and my partner has been expecting you."

A male mage wearing a pure white bandanna with a gray cloak smiles in return. On his right stands a silver colored wolf that stands up to his chest, "Greetings, Daishi Tanaka at your service, and this is my linked, Ryu."

Kikori frowned slightly, "A Channeler?"

"Yes, Ryu is an elemental wolf." Daishi said politely.

The second mage, wearing a blood red cloak with blond hair and hazel eyes steps forward, "I'm Hikari Funko."

"Hikari!"

Kikori jumps slightly as Ranma rushes out of the store, "It's REALLY you!"

"Ranma." Hikari said brightly, "It's been a while."

Ranma snorted, "A while? It's been 8 years! Still the queen of understatements!"

"I take it you two know each other?" Kikori said, cutting in.

"Yeah, I know Hikari." Ranma said, "Spirit mage of fire. Fortunately without the personality to match."

Hikari blushed and punches Ranma in the face, "Stop that!"

Kikori and Daishi both stares at Ranma, "With, or without?"

Ranma just grinned, "She hates it when I talk about her personality. Seems like she hasn't changed a bit since we last met."

"Let's not stand around, we have a CSM walking around in Japan and I want to catch him." Daishi said seriously, "Plus Ryu is getting annoyed with not getting any action for the last few months."

Ranma ignores the Channeler, "Whatever, lets go in."

***********************************************************************

"So let me get this straight," Hikari said with a pale face, "we need to hunt down the most powerful anti-magi weapon that exists in the world who is held by one of the oldest enemies of the mage tower?"

Ranma and Kikori nodded.

"And all we have is two spirit mages, a channeler, a priestess, a mind mage, and a half blind imbuer!"

The two nodded again.

"I LOVE YOU MAGE TOWER!"

Everyone in the room sweatdropped after a second of silence.

"Umm, Hikari," Ranma stared at his old friend, "Are ya suicidal?"

The fire mage blinked, "No."

"Oh good." Ranma said with relieve, "I was about to contemplate asking for a better health insurance plan from the tower."

"You are very crazy Ranma." Shampoo said shaking her head, "No WAY is the mage tower going to give us a better health insurance, it's like asking if there is a god of TV. Equal ridiculous."

Kikori covered her mouth and let out a small snicker.

"So where IS this CSM?" Daishi asked petting his wolf.

"From what the tower gathered, our target has his tower in Hokkaido." Kikori said pulling out a map from under the coffee table. The mage shows a blown up version of Japan with the northern island completely filled up by black dots.

"What's with the dots?" Mousse asked.

"Those show the points where dark energies are." Kikori answered, "Which gives us a VERY large search area."

Ranma shook his head, "It's a cover, the dark energy ain't from our target." 

Hikari nodded in agreement, "Those energy are more like minions of our target. I think."

Kikori blinked, "So where is that CSM?"

Ranma chuckled, "Kikori, I expected more from ya. Here of course."

The priestess blinked and looked at where Ranma pointed, "Sapporo?"

"Yep." Ranma said with a smirk, "The dots avoid that city. There are two reasons, one, they are afraid of somethin' there, or two, there is somethin' holy there, which there ain't."

"So we head for Sapporo?" Daishi asked.

"Then we head Sapporo." Kikori answered, "We'll take the tower planes there tomorrow morning, we can rest up in one of the hotels before scanning the area for the CSM. Then we'll figure out what to do."

Ranma stared at the Amazons, who haven't spoken much yet, "What do ya guys think?"

Shampoo blinked, "Oh this isn't our territory. If it's in China, me and Mousse might help in this stage, but is not."

Mousse nodded in agreement, "Just point and we'll fight."

Ranma chuckled, "All fight no play makes Amazons blood thirsty."

"Yes and all joke and no serious makes Spirit mages go to hospital." Shampoo replied once again wielding her bon bori."

***********************************************************************

Ranma sighed as he and his partner once again set foot on an airplane once again, "I hate planes."

"So you rather waste few months to hike and SWIM to Sapporo?" Kikori asked incredulously.

Ranma laughed and let Kikori take the window seat, "Here, I know you love window seats."

Kikori smiled, "You never take it. I think you should this time."

Ranma shook his head, "If I am going to see the sky, I rather use my own magic to fly up here, not through a plastic window."

RING RING

The two mages stared at the built in phone in front of them, "Did it just ring?"

Kikori nodded.

RING RING.

"Probably Landal." Ranma muttered before picking up the phone, "Hello, Ranma here."

Ranma nodded once in a while for a minute before hanging up.

"So who is it?" Kikori asked curiously.

"Oh its Landal." Ranma said calmly and relaxed on the seat, "Wake me up when we're there."

"You can get some sleep when we get to Sapporo," Kikori said shaking her partner, "Wake up! What am I suppose to do for 4 hours!"

***********************************************************************

Hikari shook her head as she watched Kikori trying to wake up Ranma, who is pretending to sleep.

"So what's up with that other spirit mage?" Daishi asked Hikari, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Ranma?" Daishi nodded, "What do you mean?"

"He ignores me a lot." Daishi said, "Not that I mind or anything, but the way he does it. Seems VERY intentional. SO intentional I think he WANTS me to know he's ignoring me."

Hikari nodded, "I know what you mean. Ranma usually doesn't ignore people like that. Make fun of, sure, anger, always, but never ignore. Well there IS this one time when some mage asked for some help with our magic theory test."

"He was in your class?" Daishi asked, "But he's at LEAST 3 years younger than us, so is his partner."

Hikari laughed, "Oh those two are the pride of the Kyoto Tower. Ranma, the youngest spirit mage to ever reach 3rd circle."

"HE is third circle!" The channeler gaped.

The spirit mage nodded, "And of course, Kikori, the youngest priestess to ever able to hold on to a resurrection spell* for more than five seconds."

Daishi shook his head in wonder, "Amazing."

"Yeah, you should watch Ranma in action." Hikari said, "THAT is amazing. Of course, watching Kikori casting a high-level priestess spell and holding on for more than half an hour is also amazing. Given that she fainted after that, but that was expected."

"Is there anything ELSE I should know about our rag tag team and why your are SO confident with us?" Daishi asked wiry.

"Shampoo is the heir to Cologne, the Mind mage council representative. Mousse is a Master of a martial art discipline, the hidden weapons with his imbuing skills." Hikari said in an uncaring tone, "Oh yeah, Ranma's a Talent."

"You're pulling my leg." Daishi said with a chuckle, "That's a good one."

"Who said I was joking," Hikari said, giving the channeler an amused look, "If I was, then I'll be praying to the gods to help us right now."

"So THOSE two are the two that can probably bring down a first class mage?" Daishi said in awe, "Wow."

Hikari smiled and nodded, "They both have a drive that forces them to be the best. Kikori was raised by the tower itself, she wasn't an orphan like most of us, but born to the tower. Ranma's drive... I have no idea what drives him, but all I know is that you can trust him to come up on top."

*Author's note: Priestess spells are classified into four classes. Lesser, High, Miracle, and Godly. Lesser would be minor healing spells, and other weak blessings. High classed spells are major healing spells, defensive spells like enhanced healing, and warding spells. Miracle classes are just like the name implies, miracles. These 'miracles' include things that defy laws of physics but not the laws of nature such as extreme recovery where the target heals their wounds too quickly for the cells to actually move in real life. Godly class is the spells that defy laws of nature. They practically let the priests or priestesses wield the powers of gods themselves. Resurrection is one of these spells, but if you can use the power of gods without going mad or completely destroying your own body, well good luck.

***********************************************************************

"Sham-"

"Shut up Mu Tzu."

***********************************************************************

"I don't get it, why don't the elders just go and get that CSM themselves." Mousse asked innocently, "I mean with them, that CSM probably doesn't even stand a chance."

"The elders need to protect the tower, so they send us to do this." Kikori answered, "There ARE more factions in this world that would be glad to bring down a defenseless tower."

"Point taken." Mousse chuckled nervously, "So where is this hotel we're staying at?"

Ranma sighed, "Landal set up a stay for us already, but the rooms are set so we have our own rooms."

Kikori groaned.

"What so bad about that?" Hikari said, "I mean we get our own rooms right?"

Shampoo nodded in agreement, "Unless you two WANT to sleep in the same room."

Daishi and Mousse laughed out loud as Ranma and Kikori blushed bright red.

"It's not that!" Ranma defended, "Landal probably PLACED us in the same room just to make us awkward."

"So you don't have to worry about anything." Shampoo said, "You get to do whatever you two do when you're alone with an excuse too."

The rest of the mages laughed relentlessly at the expense of a spirit mage and a priestess.

***********************************************************************

Ranma lets out a breath as he flopped down on his bed, "Wow, I have ta hand it to Landal. He knows his hotels!"

Silence greeted Ranma as he stared up at the ceiling, "And he didn't put me and Kikori in the same room too! That's a first."

**He's close, I can feel him.** The pig-tailed mage frowned, **Tomorrow, I'm going to get him tomorrow.**

"I need a soak." Ranma muttered and starts to strip, "That'll get me relaxed enough ta do some scouting work this afternoon."

***********************************************************************

Kikori felt like hugging Landal, "This room is beautiful." The priestess sat on the bed looking around the room. There is a single queen sized bed in the middle of the room with a side stand on either side. A TV is placed in the opposite side of the bed. A desk is place beside the TV with a lamp on it. A sliding door on the opposite side of the entrance of he room leads out to a porch where one can see the ocean.

"Well, time to see if the Furo is as good as the room itself." Kikori said happily as she grabs her bathing items.

***********************************************************************

Landal gasped for air and began to laugh again.

"Landal, I wish you would stop playing jokes on the two already." 

Landal controls himself before answering, "Well those two need to lighten up anyway. They are so uptight about some things elder."

The old man chuckled but was stopped by a hacking cough, "Yes, they are. Pray tell what you did to them THIS time."

Landal grinned, "Well you know how Ranma and Kikori have this VERY weird talent of seeing each other naked?"

"Of course," The elder said shaking his head, "It's uncanny. Makes you think they do it on purpose."

"Well, the hotel I set them up with have them share the same bathroom." Landal said before bursting out laughing again.

The elder shook his head in amusement. **If Landal knew what was in store for Ranma, he wouldn't have done this. But still, this is most amusing**

***********************************************************************

Kikori blushed uncontrollably as she clutched her towel as close to her body as humanly possible. **Not again! Stupid Landal.**

"I think it's my turn to take the bath first." Kikori stammered, wanting to turn around but doing so will show more skin to her partner than she is showing now.

"Yeah tell me when ya done." Ranma said still nervously wrapping his towel around his waist.

"Well?"

"Sorry."

***********************************************************************

Hikari yawned as she and the others waited for Kikori and Ranma to come down to the lobby to meet them, "What is TAKING them so long."

Shampoo giggled, "Maybe they really do naughty things when no one knows."

"I can most certainly say that we don't Shampoo." 

The Amazon jumped, "Hello Kikori."

Hikari raised her eyebrows as she looked over the two mages that just came down, **Hmm, damp hair, and bright blush...**

"You SURE you two wasn't doing something... naughty as Shampoo put it?"

Ranma growled, "Lets just go, we have a mission to finish, Mousse you're with me, Kikori go with Hikari, Shampoo you go with Daishi."

The priestess loses the blush immediately and nods, "We are to scout the area for clues as to where our target is. We gather here again at seven PM then I guess we'll see what we can do then."

The others nodded and split up into their groups.

***********************************************************************

****

7:30 PM: Hotel Lobby

"Sorry we late." Shampoo said smiling sheepishly, "we follow lead and forgot the time."

Kikori nodded, "It's ok, my side didn't come up with anything."

Mousse shrugged, "Me and Ranma didn't find a single lead."

Daishi grinned, "Me and Shampoo found a captain of a boat that says that he saw a tower in the middle of the sea he fishes at but only once. We told him to bring us to that place."

"So he has a tower in the middle of the sea?" Hikari said, "Wow, no where to run, for us AND for him."

Shampoo nodded, "He is very smart, has a illusion spell hiding his tower and with the sea always moving, you can't put a marker to mark where he is unless you anchor it, but you can do away with anchors pretty easily."

"So we set out to the tower tomorrow?" Ranma asked, "Can that captain take us to the tower?"  


Daishi nodded, "We asked for his assistance, he said as long as we don't interrupt his schedule."

"When do we head out?" Mousse asked.

"Very early." Daishi said with a sigh, "5 AM early."

All the mage winced except for Shampoo and Ranma who cursed.

"Now how am I suppose to practice!"

"How can I practice martial arts!"

***********************************************************************

"They found our tower." All three of Kalda's head said in unison creating his gurgled voice.

"I know, and they brought help too." The man grinned in anticipation, "I just hope they can survive the tower long enough so I can go up against Ranma's power."

"You can get him IF he beats me." Kalda said with a growl, "The young puppy has a score to settle with me Sakado."

Sakado sighed, "Oh well, looks like I'll have to settle with that other spirit mage."

***********************************************************************

"There should be a law that says that girls shouldn't be so chirpy THIS early in the morning." Daishi mumbled as he rubbed his eyes and taking a sip of his coffee, "How can you STAND that."

Mousse shrugged as he finished off his cup, "Being brought up in an Amazon village does that to you."

Kikori shrugged, "I'm used to it."

Hikari groaned, "I wish I can be THAT awake this early in the morning."

Ranma grinned as he did a Kata on the deck of the ship, "So what is this Kata again?"

Shampoo is doing the same Kata only at a faster rate, "This is 'Dance of petals'*, a sword Kata, but it's been modified by my great grand mother for unarmed use."

Hikari groaned again, "HOW can they do THAT this early in the morning!"

A hearty chuckled made the four spectators turn, "It's good to see SOME youngsters nowadays still wake up early like we used to."

Kikori bowed politely, "Mr.Ibuki, I thank you for letting us use your vessel."

The captain of the ship waved his hand, "Don't worry about it, as long as it doesn't mess with my schedule, it's all fine with me. But tell me, how are you going to get off the tower?"

Kikori blinked, "Umm..."

The man laughed clutching his belly, "Ah don't worry about it. Just call this number and I'll bring my ship to pick your group up."

Kikori blushed, "Thank you for you kindness."

"Don't mention it." The man said grinning, "We should be getting to that tower in half an hour, you should try to wake yourself up before we get there."

Daishi yawned, "Yeah, you have enough coffee for a refill?"

*Author's note: No that is not a real Kata. I made it up. If it's real hurray for me ^^ I actually guessed something right =p.

***********************************************************************

"This is it!" Ranma said cheerfully, "So what's the plan?"

"I say we charge in and kick butt!" Hikari said with the same flare as Ranma, "LET'S GO!"

Shampoo sweatdropped, "Should we have more of a plan than charge in and kick butt?"

Kikori shook her head, "Actually, unless we know the lay out of that tower, that's the only sound plan that we can have."

"Let's go already!" The two spirit mages grinned maniacally before charging towards the tower.

Daishi stared at the two spirit mages and gave a small prayer, "Let's hope that this isn't the last mission I'll be on. Let's go Ryu."

***********************************************************************

Sakado grinned as he watched from the top of the tower, "So it begins, the end of the tower."

"Or it's eternal survival." Kalda said, "So you DO know we are only the beginning."

"Yes, but I intend to survive to see the end." Sakado replied, "I'm sure I can."

***********************************************************************

"_I call upon the power from the fiery depths of hell!_"

"_I call upon the power from the never ending storm!_"

The two spirit mages stood side by side as the others watched from behind, a hoard of 'zombies' quickly made their way towards the small group of mages.

"_Burst of thy flame shall be your might!_"

"_Burst of thy winds shall show us thy power!_"

"_Show mine enemy to fear thy strength!_"

Hikari shot her hand towards the middle of the hoard of zombies, releasing a ball of flame.

"_Show no mercy towards the undeserving!_"

Ranma mimicked Hikari's gesture but instead activating a spell circle surrounding the whole hoard. The ball of flame hits the middle of the circle and explodes. Wind immediately picks up, spreading the fire from the explosion out through the hoard creating a tornado of flame.

"We KICK ASS!" Ranma yelled, "Ya see that! We're gonna kick your ass!"

Hikari grinned, "You watch your step CSM! 'Cause we're on FIRE!"

Mousse and Shampoo blinked, "Is Ranma always like this?"

Kikori nodded sadly, "Yes... he is."

Daishi shrugged, "I'll blow up the door. Tell the two when they finish taunting."

The channeler closed his eyes and concentrate as his wolf starts to glow a cloudy white color. The aura that the wolf emits starts to move towards Daishi and surrounds him. Slowly the power gathers into a flat vertical disk in front of him and starts to glow brighter.

"I think this should be enough to blow the door." Daishi muttered before relaxing and punching at the disc. A large beam of magic bursts out of the disc and slams into the door breaking it open easily.

Mousse gave a whistle of appreciation, "Nice."

Shampoo and Kikori just nodded.

"So the door is down?" Hikari said with a grin, "Lets go make some havoc!"

Ranma snorted, "Havoc? We're gonna blow this place DOWN!"

***********************************************************************

"There goes our door." Kalda said watching the door fall and killing the hoard of mix and match skeletons waiting behind it, "And a large amount of skeletons you made from the remains of fish."

Sakado grimaced, "Knew I shouldn't place them there."

The three-headed monster snorted, "More fun for us."

The corrupted mage nodded, "Yes, more fun for us."

***********************************************************************

The group of mage walked along the spiral stairs that slowly goes up to the top. The stairs is built along the side of the tower so that you can see up from the center of the circle to the top easily. "So how far do we have to walk till we reach the top?" Mousse asked, "This is VERY tiring."

"I think that's the point of making a tower," Hikari said, "Tire the intruders out THEN face them."

Shampoo blanched, "A cowards tactic."

"An effective one too." Daishi commented and his wolf huffed in agreement.

"I say we are only half way Mousse." Ranma said after peering upwards, "And who's to say if we have MORE stairs to climb once we reach the top."

Mousse grumbled and throws a knife at a bat hitting it, "This is less exciting than I thought."

Kikori blinked as she saw the knife hit the bat. The bat bursts into blue flame and falls to the bottom, "Hey Mousse, are those normal knifes or are they imbued?"

"Normal, why?"

"Guys, I think we have MORE undead to deal with." Kikori said nervously and takes out her pendent, "That bat you hit burst into flames before falling."

"Don't tell me we need to play vamp hunter!" Ranma groaned, "Hikari, can you cast a spell towards the top of the tower?"

"Gladly." Hikari smiled and points her fist towards the top, "_Demons blood, devil's anger. Guide thy power to my fist, let burn!_"

Fire engulfed her fist and she sends it flying towards the top.

Shampoo frowned, "Not too big of a fireball. You sure it can kill?"

Hikari just smiled sweetly, "Wait for it."

The amazon blinked and continues to watch the small fireball head for the top. Once it DID reach the top, it explodes and covers the top of the tower with flame.

"Told you to wait." 

Ranma gave her a thumbs up when he saw bats fall to the bottom of the tower, "Lets continue on."

***********************************************************************

"The hell, the tower is giving them more of a challenge than those things I conjured up." Sakado growled, "Good thing I didn't set them up just yesterday or else I'd be at half strength only."

Kalda chuckled, "Why get others to do your job when you can do it yourself?"

"We get others to do it 'cause we're too lazy." Sakado replied and continue to watch the group ascend, "Oh well, at least the last part of the tower would go according to plan no matter WHAT they do."

"You sure?"

"YES!"

***********************************************************************

"Oh man... this is SO lame." Ranma commented.

"No offense to our target but, that IS bad." Kikori shook her head.

"How much imagination does it take to think THAT up?" Hikari said with disgust.

"Not much I imagine." Daishi answered.

"Wow, even the ten year olds in our village can think of something better!" Shampoo said, "I am REALLY insulted by this."

"I know what you mean," Mousse sighed, "ten year olds in our village can REALLY think of something better, I can attest to that."

The group of mages stared at the fork road in front of them.

"Take your pick group." Ranma rolled his eyes.

***********************************************************************

"THAT is your fool proof plan?" Kalda said groaning. "I expected more from you."

"That's my line, just remember your place." Sakado growled, "Don't worry this plan IS fool proof."

***********************************************************************

"Center route it is." Ranma said and walked towards the center route.

**Hmm, something is wrong.**

CLANG!

Ranma turned around to see a plate of pure titanium blocking the path trapping him and Daishi, "Shit."

"Well looks like it's just you and me." Daishi said.

"Yeah yeah, just watch my back." Ranma growled and walks forward.

***********************************************************************

"It seems he is forcing us to separate." Kikori said, "Well I guess I'll group with Shampoo and take the left route. Mousse you go with Hikari and take the right one."

"Ok."

***********************************************************************

"See fool proof!" Sakado said, "and this time, nothing can stop them from fighting my army of skeletons."

"They're fish bones." Kalda said, "How much damage can they take?"

"Why don't you be a nice dog and go dig up some bones then." Sakado growled.

"Point taken."

"Oh and before I forget," Sakado said with a evil smirk, "Why don't you go to that room and meet up with Ranma. I'd like to take care of the rest of them myself."

***********************************************************************

Ranma frowned, "Skeletons."

"Let me take care of them." Daishi said and starts to gather energy.

"STOP!" Ranma grabs the channeler's hand and stops him, "You trying to bring the whole tunnel on top of us?"

"_Oh Spirits of wind, heed my call! Gather your magic, pierce through the wall of the unbreakable, banish the evil within!_" 

Ranma pointed a finger at the hoard of skeletons, the thin beam of light pierce through everything in front of it. Every skeleton it touched fell to pieces immediately, "If you can't cast something without doing mass destruction, don't do it in this tunnel, you'll kill us instead."

Daishi growled and pushed Ranma to the side allowing him to take the lead. He looked at his wolf in its eyes commanding it to do something. The wolf nodded and begins to glow. The channeler held out his hands with all his fingers separate and pointing in front of them, 

"I'll show you control." Daishi muttered. Beams of white light shot out

from his fingers crossing each other occasionally. The magic aura emitting from him continues to grow making cracks in the walls beside him.

**Got to draw some energy into me or else I'll bring to tunnel down anyway.**

Ranma stood behind the channeler as he continues to strain to keep the magic the wolf gave him from going uncontrolled. "If ya can't take the strain, dun do it. Ya kill us all anyways."

Daishi snorted as he cut of the magic, "What is with you anyways! You have a stick up your ass or something?"

"You want to know what's with me?" Ranma snapped back, "I'm just disgusted with you bunch."

"You're a mage yourself too." Daishi snarled.

"When I say ya bunch, I mean channelers." Ranma replied sharply, "All ya channelers are a bunch of cowards. Fightin' when it's easy, takin' the easy way to everythin'. But when it gets tough, all ya do is run home like a bunch of wusses."

Daishi growled, "YOU take that back!"

"Prove me wrong, 'cause I know I can prove you wrong." Ranma growled.

"What have we done to you." Daishi asked calmly but still with anger in his voice, "What makes you think we're all cowards."

Ranma blinked, "Look, it might not be your fault, but you're not doing anything to prove me wrong."

"I'm not doing anything to prove you right either."

The pigtailed mage frowned, "You want to know why I think all you channelers are cowards? I had I twin sister, she died fighting Kalda when we were seven years old. She fought it as those god damned channelers ran from him! THEY LET A SEVEN YEAR OLD _GIRL_ fight a GOD DAMNED MONSTER!"

Daishi deflated, "I'll prove you wrong then."

Ranma gave a sideways glance at his companion, "Hope you hold on to your word." The pig-tailed mage said as they reached the end of their tunnel, " 'Cause I'm sure you'll regret making that statement if it's not true once we open to door."

Daishi smirked, "I'm a man of my word Ranma Saotome, I'll prove myself."

Ranma nodded and pushed open the door.

***********************************************************************

"So we meet for the third time Saotome."

Ranma glared at the monster in front of him in the large open area that the two mages ended up in after the long tunnel, "Kalda."

Daishi pointed his palm in front of him already glowing with power. 

"Daishi, he's mine." Ranma said quietly.

"But-"

"If you want to prove yourself, go find our target and protect my partner, Kikori. Prove to me you can protect." Ranma said looking at the channeler, "I'm trusting you with her life."

Daishi nodded and dashed for the door on the opposite side.

ROAR!

Ranma's eyes widened as the ground in front of him exploded throwing him against the wall of the room.

"Never take your eyes off your opponent young pup." Kalda said grimly, "I take that as an insult."

Ranma growled, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you kill her?" Ranma asked as he readied a spell.

"I'll tell you when you defeat me." Kalda's right head replied, as it's other two heads roared throwing two fireballs at Ranma.

"_RELEASE!_" Ranma's palm shot forward letting lose a ball of magic.

**I'll kill him this time.**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, what can I say? I'm leaving you people with a cliffhanger. Like the last cliffhanger I gave, I don't have a reason for it except maybe I'm too lazy to finish it. Or maybe I planned it...

Anywho, about the comment about how Kalda's appearance looks like FF8's Cerberus GF? Well it's not intentional. To tell the truth, I haven't even USE Cerberus in the game. I got him, but never did use him as a summon. So I have NO idea what it looks like =p Maybe I should play it again to see... NAW.

For those of you who are wondering about the full story of how Ranma's twin sis died, it'll be revealed next chapter, probably, if not, I'd give a side story for it. Of course Saiko's death is only a part of Ranma's past although he tends to dwell on it ever since he got the Jusenkyo curse.

On this chapter, I tried to mix in MORE humor with the normally semi-serious Ranma adventure. Of course the incompetent enemy traps are kinda an old joke (I think) but I did it anyways cuz it works... kinda. Comments about that are appreciated and I'd like to thank people ahead of time for commenting on that. (That is IF any of you DO comment on that.)

And if your STILL reading this after all that boring stuff I just said... Well bravo... even I won't read through my babble like that.

Oh yeah, here's an Omake for you.

****

OMAKE! Amazonian website! **OMAKE!**

Mousse nodded, "We do. We use them for E-mailing people mostly though, not play games through them. Oh yeah... the elders were thinking of setting up a 'web-site' for us too... whatever that is."

"You are SO out-dated Mousse." Shampoo shook her head, "We already have the website up! Just log on to www.SMQUEENS.com and you'll find it!"

"CUT!"

"What it's true! Just ask my mother!" Shampoo protested.

"Hey guys look! You can buy whips from the online shop from that site!" Saiko said pointing at the computer screen.

Ranma sweatdropped, "Umm, sis, I don't think mom would like you looking at that site."

Kikori sweatdropped as Akane and Hikari both rushed towards the computer.

"We still have a scene to film guys!"

"SHUT UP!" The girls by the computer yelled and threw mallets at the cameraman.

Ranma sighed and shook his head, "I'm just glad at least Kikori isn't like those girls over there."

Mousse tapped Ranma on his shoulders, "Careful what you say."

Ranma blinked at turn to see Kikori practicing with a whip, "Ok, maybe we should pray."

****

OMAKE! End **OMAKE!**

Ok, that is a BIT too weird... I need to stop eating so much gummy bears.

Anyway, Happy New Year people. Wish ya all a good year!


	13. Chapter 13

"_RELEASE!_" Ranma screamed as he rolled away from another blast of flame coming from Kalda.

"You HAVE to try harder to hit me pup." Kalda taunted as he roared again earning him a hit on Ranma and pushing him against the wall, "Do you need some incentive?"

Ranma growled as a red aura bursts out from his body, "Seeing YOU is incentive enough. _I call forth the sword of wind!_"

Kalda snorted as the pigtailed mage once again charged at him head first, "I'd thought you'd learn that lesson the first time pup." The three-headed wolf/lizard opened all of his mouths and sprayed fire at the charging mage.

"_I call forth the barrier of souls!_" Ranma thrusts both his hands forward, pointing his magically summoned sword forward and created a cone shaped shield which deflected all the flame away from Ranma, "I DO learn ya stupid dog!"

Kalda cursed himself and tried to jump away but not before taking a hit from the sword. Blood trickled down the side of his body where Ranma landed a hit, "Well it seems like you DID improve. This means I just have to stop holding back on you."

Ranma's aura only grew larger at the taunt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act 1: Chapter 13

The Hero born from Sorrow...

"Hmm... a lot of dark energies are moving towards Sapporo." Landal muttered as he watched the reflection pool of his elder, "What do you think that means elder?"

"I do not know." The old man replied in a worried tone, "But it does not bode well for Ranma's group."

Landal frowned, "Would they be able to handle this?"

The elder of spirits chuckled, "Of course, I am more worried about Ranma finding out... THAT."

The younger mage winced, "I forgot about Kalda."

"You shouldn't, he plays a vital role in Ranma's life." The elder said softly, "He CAN and WILL influence Ranma's path. For the tower or against the tower... that would be my question."

Landal looked at the old man with a questioning gaze.

"I said the tower because I am beginning to lose faith in the prophecy." The elder said, "It is causing too much pain. Even IF it would prolong the towers existence, I don't think Ranma's pain can be justified."

"But your not stopping it." 

"I can't, if I did, the other members of the council would kill me in a heartbeat. Not to mention I couldn't stop it even if I tried." The elder said, "Landal, the time would come when I die, and you would be the new elder of the spirit mages. When that time comes, I want you to follow your heart, not the tower."

Landal blinked and turned his attention back to the pool.

***********************************************************************

"Hikari! PLEASE hurry!" Kikori whispered as sweat trickled down her face in attempt to keep her shield up against the stream of dark energies that crashes towards it.

"_Spirits of fire I deplore thee to grant me thy power and blessings! Show me thy might through magic..._"

Kikori felt her consciousness slipping as her body is strained too much from the pure power coursing through her. **I must hold on! Can't let Hikari down! Shampoo and Mousse are holding a whole hoard of Sakado's minions! I WON'T FAINT!**

Kikori's shield strengthens, "You'd have to try better to get through my goddess's shield!"

Sakado, who is floating in midair in the center of the room stopped his spell, "I'm impressed, you are the first priestess to hold of that spell for as long as you have. My congratulations."

Kikori used the sleeve of her robes to wipe away the sweat that accumulated on her face and brushed aside her green hair, "I ask once again that you surrender!"

The corrupted mage sighed, "A priest is a priest, always asking stupid questions like that to uphold their believe." Sakado shakes his head, "I am curious what that spirit mage can conjure up, so I think I'll wait till she finishes the spell."

Kikori frowned and held her pendent ready, "What are you trying to do?"

Sakado laughed, "I am just the beginning of the fall of the tower. It WILL fall, I can almost guarantee it. A priestess of your skill and endurance can help our cause a lot. Why don't you switch to our side?"

"And be used like a tool until I am of no use anymore?" Kikori replied coolly, "I think not."

"Ahh, such a sha-"

"_UNCOVER THY POWER!_" Hikari shouted and throws her hand towards the floating Sakado. Out of her hands came a bird of fire that rushed towards the floating mage.

"Quite an amusing spell. _Extinguish flames of eternity, forward_." Sakado pointed a figure at the on coming flame and jerked it up as if to shoot something at the magic fire. A distortion of air rippled on a collusion course towards its target. When the two crashed, both disappeared leaving only a puff of smoke.

"What..." Hikari gapped at the corrupted mage, "But how?"

"Hmph, didn't you learn from your tower? Wind can enhance fire magic, but it can also hamper the effects of the spell if done correctly. I myself, am a spirit mage of wind." Sakado explained in a friendly manner, "But it doesn't matter, both of you shall perish."

Hikari frowned, "Perish my ass!"

Kikori swallowed as she prepare herself for another spell, "Sakado, please stop what you are doing, it is foolish!"

The corrupted mage smirked and stood with his hands stretched forwards and his palm facing the sky, "_I gather powers of darkness. Swirling winds of dying stench. Plague all that stands in the light!_" The air around Sakado darkened and tightened into a small ball on top of his hands. "Good luck priestess."

Kikori closed her eyes "_Oh goddess of healing, protect us from the darkness that stands in front of us!_" 

"_Fire! Gather! Fly!_" Hikari yelled and threw a fireball at the on coming spell, the fireball was snuffed out like it was a candle and the dark ball of magic crashed into the shield Kikori has erected. "This is turning bad..."

Kikori took in steady breaths, **Ok Kikori, just like Ranma shows you all the time. Calm down and concentrate on the spell, not the pain.**

The robes on Kikori flutters about and her hair whips around her face as the two spells continue to disrupt each other.

"EAT THIS!" 

Kikori opened her eyes to see the dark sphere has dissipated, "Hikari?"

The fire mage smiled, "Looks like we just got reinforcements. Daishi over here!"

The channeler grinned, "So how are you girls holding up?"

"Ahem." Sakado coughed, "That was most rude! Your lucky I was able to dodge fast enough or else you might have ruined my shirt."

Daishi snarled, "Just buy a new one you cheap ass. 'Cause your going to need to buy one after I'M done with you!"

***********************************************************************

"_Fury of the earth, I call upon thy power! Lend me your strength and protect me from that which I cannot stop!_"

Ranma snarls as the tornado he created tossed Kalda into the air, "_Air that pierce, wind that destroy. This is mine call, come at mine beck!_"

Ranma's arms starts to glow a brilliant gold color and wind runs around them making two small cyclones. He punches both his fists towards Kalda as he is still in the air making the cyclone to extend towards the three wolf-headed creature. 

RANMA

Kalda frowned and twists away from the two magical blasts and landed on his feet. With a roar, he made the ground beneath Ranma crumble and blast outwards throwing sharp pieces of rocks at him. "Come now young pup, you need to try harder."

Ranma, who is lying on the floor because of the last hit, jumps up and stands in a ready stance. "Ya the one who should be tryin' harder! Who's the one bleedin' on the side!"

Kalda growled, "I wouldn't say young pup, you're the one with all those scratches."

Ranma... don't f-

"_Wind give me thy blessings! I call upon the breath of a demon!_" Ranma yelled one spell after another. Wind picks up around Ranma making him move faster as he fires thousands of needles made of air towards Kalda.

Kalda growls and leaps over the stream of needles straight towards Ranma for a physical attack, which Ranma dodges by doing a handspring on Kalda's head.

"_I call upon the weapon of NATURE!_" Ranma shot a blast of compressed air right at Kalda hitting him on the back of his head, "_Wings of an angel, carry me!_" and flies into the air.

"YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT PUP!" Kalda roared in outrage as he once again release a stream of flames towards the mage.

Don't follow him...

"_Spirits of wind, gather!_" Ranma held both his hands in front of him, over lapping each other, a large green ball of magic begins to build up power as he dodged the river of flame.

"You can't dodge forever like that mage!" Kalda yelled confidently, "And you can't gather enough energy to make sure I can't dodge even if you gather for as long as your flight spell works!"

Ranma smirked, "Don't... need... that much... magic."

The three-headed creature frowned, "Your own funeral." Kalda leaps into the air towards Ranma opening all three of his jaws.

Silver robe...

"_RELEASE AND SCATTER!_" The green ball breaks into many small green balls and shoots out forward, aimlessly towards the direction of Ranma's opponent. "I don't need that much magic, I just need to pin you down for me to cast my last spell on you!"

Kalda winced as the wave of small magic balls pinned him on the ground, "You really think those can keep me from standing?"

Knife wounds...

"No, but THIS CAN! _SPIRITS OF WIND, STREAM FROM MY HANDS!_" Ranma screamed as magic poured out of his body slamming right into Kalda pushing him towards the wall. When it hit the wall, the magic beam turns into a tornado tossing the creature into the air slamming him into the ceiling before letting Kalda fall towards the ground again.

Help her...

"I've done it..." Ranma whispered with a dazed expression and walked towards his fallen foe, "Kalda, why did you do it?"

Kalda chuckled, "So after all this time, you still don't realize that I didn't even touch her."

"Just tell me!"

Don't die...

"I'm NOT the one that killed your sister." Kalda's left head replied, "Either did my other two heads."

Ranma slumped down on to the ground, "No..."

"You remember." Kalda gave Ranma a wolfish smile.

The pigtailed mage shook his head slowly, "You... you didn't kill her."

"Of course I didn't." The three headed creature chuckled slightly and coughed, "So you remember..."

"Who... killed... her." Ranma growled, "Who was that man! That man with the silver robe!"

"I don't know," Kalda replied weakly.

"Then why did you fight me?"

"You accused me of something I didn't do, of course I'm going to fight you 'cause you slighted my honor!" Kalda coughed, "Nevertheless, care to tell a dying creature a story? The story of your sister?"

Ranma blinked, "Don't you know it already?"

"I just saw the last part actually," Kalda chuckled, "I still have time."

Ranma smiled sadly, "It was just after the first snow fell. Saiko, Zandia and me were meeting one of the Tibet channeler group." 

"Tibet, I miss that place..." Kalda said softly to himself.

"She loved the snow. She told me once that if only her hair was silver like snow and not reddish brown, she'd be the prettiest girl on earth." Ranma took in a staggering breath, "It happened the morning after we arrived. Saiko was playing in the snow and I was practicing with a new spell Zandia taught me so I can protect my lil' sister. She wandered away somehow and I didn't notice. Then I heard her scream. Her voice was pleading, yet, no fear was in her voice. I still ran towards her."

Kalda smiled sadly, "I did the same thing..."

"I saw those cowards ran from where my sis is," Ranma snarled in outrage, "They all ran! Except for one man who wore a silver robe. I remember ignoring him and ran straight towards my sister hoping she was ok..." Ranma shook his head, "No, I guess they were running to get help... I might have been wrong..."

"..."

"She died in my arms. Zandia tried to help her but whoever killed her stabbed her twice, once in the heart, another right on the back of the neck. I swore vengeance that night. I swore that I would kill her killer with my own hands."

"..."

"We went back to Tokyo right after and that was when I meet Kikori." Ranma said with a smile, "She tried to cheer me up, but ended up sitting beside me and stared at nothing with me 'cause I didn't responded."

"..."

Ranma stopped as he realize he has talked too much and turned to face Kalda...

... only to see empty space.

"Rest in peace Kalda." Ranma whispered and picked himself up, "I'm sorry sis, I failed, but I won't give up yet."

The pig-tailed mage puts on a cocky grin, "I'm gonna punch that CSM's face in just for the heck of it now._ PRINCESS OF ICE! GODDESS OF COLD! COMETH!_"

A blue spell circle appears beside Ranma. Magic gathered around it, making the ground the circle is on ripple like water. Ranma grinned as he watched Artricia shoot out of the circle, making the ground freeze in it's rippling state.

"Wow, the first time I've been summoned and haven't have my head crash into something."

Ranma smirked, "Com'on, you'll have plenty of chances of head buttin' people later. We have a CSM to hunt down."

The princess of ice gave an identical smirk as Ranma, "Well what are we standing around for? Lets go kick butt!"

***********************************************************************

"WHAT!" Landal yelled, "Kalda didn't kill Saiko?"

The spirit elder shook his head sadly, "No... a man killed her."

"Who?"  
  
"I cannot say."

Landal growled, "You can't, or you won't?"

"I won't."

Landal stared at his elder in bewilderment, "What have the tower done."

"They have created a warrior that fights because of sorrow. A warrior born from sorrow."

***********************************************************************

"Ah, shit." Daishi swore after another blast of magic hits him, "This isn't good. He dodges all my spells and then hits me with his. He just cancels out Hikari's spells and Kikori is at her limit already!"

"Daishi," Kikori said calmly, "Go get Mousse, he would have a better chance at beating him than us."

Daishi frowned, "Ryu, go get Mousse. I need to stay and help the two ladies."

The wolf reappeared beside the channeler and grunted in reply before disappearing again, "I'm staying here to help, you two can't hold him off."

Hikari smirked as she throws another spell at their opponent, "The more the merrier."

Sakado sighed, "Why do you three keep trying to bring me down? Is what I am doing really that bad?"

"You are doing bad at disrupting peace!" Kikori answered, "Please, we don't need this!"

The corrupted mage nodded, "You're right, we don't need this. We don't need the mage tower to have so much power in this world. Governments of countries do well enough on their own."

Footsteps echoed through the room signaling the arrival of Mousse, "So, you're the Corrupt Spirit mage that every one's been talking about."

Sakado smiled, "Ah, the imbuer. Adding another person into your party isn't going to change the result, I am still going to win this fight."

Mousse growled, "I seriously doubt that." He drew out a hand full of knifes from his sleeves and throws it towards the floating mage.

"Heh, your not the only one with magical items on you." Sakado smirked and deflected the magical knifes aside with a swipe of...

"The Dragon fan blade." Kikori gasped, "With that, he can nullify all magical attacks that we make!"

"That's right, with this blade, the mage tower will fall for sure!" The corrupted mage boasted, "You cannot beat me."

Mousse snorted, "You REALLY think that just by wielding that sword you would be unbeatable by us? All imbuers know of that sword, and one of its drawbacks is that the wielder cannot use magic either!" Mousse drew out another dozen of daggers from his robe, "And you have just signed a death warrant by trying to face me in non magical weapons battle."

The three other mages from the tower smiled slightly at the event.

"I hate to disappoint you imbuer, but I didn't spend my time in hiding just playing with magic." Sakado replied smugly, "I practiced with the sword art. You might say I am rather formidable with this sword."

Mousse didn't reply and throws his daggers at his opponent while the others charged up their spells hoping to get Sakado from the back. The corrupted mage drops to the ground, dodging all the daggers, and charged at Mousse with a low swipe to the legs. 

**This is going to take a while**. Kikori mused as she slowly heals Daishi with her spells as he casts his spells to distract the corrupted mage.

***********************************************************************

**Man, this tower is taller than I first thought**. Ranma grimaced as he reached another set of stairs, "This is getting REALLY annoying."

"I know whatcha mean." Artricia said as she glided beside Ranma, "Even if I'm NOT walking, my legs feel tired just by looking at these stairs."

Ranma laughed, "_Wings of angels, carry me!_ Well looks like I won't be able to save up magic if I want to actually make it up the tower in time."

The Ice princess stopped suddenly, "Actually, I don't think you can save up your magic even IF you didn't use your flight spell. 'Cause here comes company."

The pigtailed mage sighed, "Now what."

"AIYA!"

CRASH!

Ranma blinked as Shampoo crashed through the wall and fall down right beside him, "So... what have you been doing all this time?"

The mind mage shook her head and looks up, "Ranma! Hoards of skeletons and some zombies are charging right into this tower! How they got here I have no idea, but they are here!"

Artricia sighed, "I'll get rid of them."

"Thanks 'Tricia." Ranma gave her a thumbs up, "What would I do without you."

"Probably go find Kikori and tell HER to do what I'm going to do." Artricia smirked, "But of course, why get a priestess when you can get the Goddess herself?"

Shampoo sweatdropped, "I see why you two get along so well. Both of you are egotistical maniacs."

Ranma glared at the Amazon, "We only state the truth."

"All done." Artricia smiled cheerfully, "Not much of an army anyways."

"That was fast." Shampoo scratched her head, "So what did you do?"

"She probably just cast some freezing spell and let them crumble to bits and pieces all by themselves." Ranma said with a shrug, "But lets get going, I don't think the others would appreciate it if we just stand around and chat."

"Oh yeah... forgot about the CSM." Shampoo stuck out her tongue.

"Now I feel so save with your group." Artricia sighed, "At least when it was only Ranma and Kikori, I at least know that Kikori would get us out of trouble without violence."

"HEY!"

***********************************************************************

Ranma held up his hand signaling for the others behind him to stop, "Lets see what is happening before we charge in."

Shampoo nodded and peeked inside with Ranma while Artricia stood behind the two waiting for them.

"Is that what I think it is?" Shampoo said pointing towards the sword Sakado wields.

"Yep, that's the Fan Blade." Ranma replied, "and looks like Mousse is down for the count, and those cuts looks bad."

"Hikari is down too, I think she strained herself too much... I can't seem to see Kikori and Daishi." Shampoo said after peeking through for another minute.

"Well, what do you think? We charge in?" Ranma asked the other two.

"Charge."

"Charge."

Ranma grinned, "Lets make a flashy entrance why don't we?"

Shampoo rolled her eyes, "Are all Japanese males so irrational? Why don't we just walk in and see if we can ambush our target?"

The called goddess sighed, "Why don't Ranma here make a flashy entrance why you sneak in behind our target and ambush him?"

The two mages blinked, "That would work."

"Mortals..." Artricia rolled her eyes, "Can't hate them, can't love them, and can't live without them."

***********************************************************************

"YO UGLY!" Ranma yelled from the doorway, "Dontcha know that you shouldn't pick on girls!"

Sakado paused in mid cast and turned towards the source of the voice, "Ahh, so the famed Ranma Saotome finally came."

The pigtailed mage smirked confidently, "Yeah, and you need to hire some better bodyguards, those guys are all so skinny if you know what I mean."

"So you've meet up with my army of skeletons?"

Ranma snorted, "Even my grandma could beat those things if she was still alive! I mean fish bones?"

Everyone that isn't in hiding or knocked out sweatdropped, "You try and find human bones nowadays."

Ranma blinked, "Good point."

More sweatdrops from everyone.

"Anyway, surrender to the tower or be taken in by force!" Ranma said heroically and pointed his figure towards the sword wielding mage.

"Do you all have to say that before we fight?" Sakado said with a sigh.

"No we don't!"

The corrupted mage frowned and turned around to see Shampoo charging him with two bon bori. Instinctively, he brought the Long Sen Dao to parry the two large maces, "Ah the other Chinese Amazon," Sakado smirked, "I hope you are more of a challenge than your friend."

Ranma, who had rushed over to Daishi and Kikori while Shampoo was keeping Sakado busy, smiled, "Daishi, thanks."

The channeler grinned painfully, "The pleasure was all mine."

Kikori gave her partner a quizzical look.

"Don't worry 'bout it Kikori." Ranma said, "You two take a break, I'll go help Shampoo. Tricia should be able to protect you two if anything happens."

The area next to Ranma shimmered, "HEY! I thought I'd get a piece of that CSM too!"

Daishi jumped slightly, "What the hell!"

The priestess shook her head, "Daishi, meet Artricia. Goddess of cold and ice."

"I hate that title, but yeah! Nice ta meetcha." Artricia said cheerfully.

Ranma nodded, "Ok I'll go help Shampoo now. _Wind, give me thy blessings!_"

Artricia nodded and waved her hand towards Ranma, "The air surround your body that your spell gave you has my power imbued in it. It would protect you better."

"Thanks, owe ya one." Ranma grinned and dashed towards the battle to join the fray.

***********************************************************************

Shampoo thrust one of her maces towards her target, which was dodged, and follows up with a wide swing with her other mace. Sakado leaps backwards and makes a downward swing with his sword. Shampoo blocks with the metal ball at the end of her mace and counterattacks with a sidekick, which pushes Sakado back.

"Not bad girl." Sakado said rubbing where Shampoo kicked him, "But you need to kick harder to bring me down."

"And you should practice with your sword more before challenging a REAL Amazon warrior." Shampoo sneered and charged the corrupted mage.

Sakado drops the sword on the ground, "_Dark winds! RELEASE!_" The CSM thrusts his hands out towards Shampoo, throwing a dark ball of magic almost at point blank range, knocking the attacking Amazon back before picking up the sword and charges himself, "This fight ENDS!"

Shampoo rolls sideways to avoid the blade from hacking her in half and does a sweep kick trying to knock Sakado down, but the corrupted mage jumps up to avoid it.

"_I CALL UPON THE BREATH OF A DEMON!_" Rains of needles showered the corrupted mage in mid air. Or would have if he didn't raised his sword in defense.

Sakado was about to smirk but was caught off guard by a flying kick.

"You talk too much." Ranma smirked before launching a ball of magic towards the fallen mage.

Shampoo growled and launched herself right behind the ball of magic. Sakado used the sword and dispelled the magic ball and ducked under Shampoo's assault, but the Amazon wasn't finished. Shampoo knees the corrupted mage in the stomach and disarms him with a well-placed hit, crushing his hands with the bon bori.

Sakado growled and leaped for the sword.

"_I call upon the weapon of nature._" Ranma shot a high pressure of wind at the corrupted mage, draining the dark spirits from around him, leaving him breathless, and defenseless against Shampoos attack.

"Give up now?" Shampoo sneered.

"Not yet amazon." Sakado smirked. Dust swirled violently around the corrupted mage blowing Shampoo away from him and pointed his palm towards Ranma, "_Remove mine foe's helping hands. Doom mine enemy oh dark winds!_"

"_I call forth the ba-_urk." Ranma froze in mid cast.

**SHIT!**

Shampoo gasped when she saw Ranma wither in pain on the floor, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM!"

Sakado blinked in confusion, "I don't know, but I'm not one to pass up a good blessing. _Dark winds of death, I call upon thee!_"

Shampoo crossed her maces in front of her to block the black crescent of magic speeding towards her, but lost her grip as the spell hits.

"Looks like this fight is to my favor again." Sakado grinned.

***********************************************************************

Kikori gasped as Artricia suddenly vanished, "Oh no, Ranma!"

Daishi blinked in confusion, "What about Ranma? Where did Artricia go?"

The priestess ignored the questions and looked up to see Ranma's pained expression, "The curse! Sakado casted a dispel... This isn't good."

"Sorry I can't help." Daishi said shaking his head, "Ryu is low on energy and needs to rest and I'm all beaten up."

"It's alright." The priestess said before running towards her partner.

**What can I do about this. If I'm not mistaken, that's a high level spirit dispel. It can carry itself out until the spell is gone. That means, it won't stop until it rips Ranma's soul out...**

"Ki-Kikori..." Ranma gasped, "Pain..."

"Hold on..." The priestess bit her lip, "Oh Goddess... I don't know what to do."

"I... won't... give up... yet." Ranma bit his tongue to prevent himself from screaming as another wave of pain shot through his body.

"I... I'll think of something." Kikori said holding Ranma's hand in both of hers.

**Please... Goddess of healing... help your child this once. Please help me prevent the spell from ripping Ranma's soul away from his body...**

***********************************************************************

Shampoo's expression turns blank and her eyes glow a deep violet, "Time for you to feel the true power of Amazons."

Sakado sneered, "If it's anything like your friend's hidden weapons, I think I don't have anything to worry about."

The lavender haired girl narrowed her eyes and bursts into action attacking the corrupted mage with her fists before Sakado had time to erect a shield.

Sakado leaps sideways in a desperate attempt to dodge Shampoo's relentless attack, "_Dark winds! RELEASE_"

Shampoo suddenly vanished when the ball of magic hits her.

"What is this?"

"Wrong person." Shampoo said in the same emotionless voice and kicked Sakado on the head sending him to the ground, "You are really less of a challenge than Ranma. Even Ranma can take more hits than you."

"Like Ranma says," Sakado suddenly jumps up and places his palm on Shampoo's head, "_Winds throws you to darkness_. You talk too much."

Sakado's hands glowed a dark blue. Shampoo's eyes lost its glow, eyelids slowly lowered itself, and suddenly, she dropped on the ground unconscious.

"And so begins the fall of the tower." Sakado whispered and picks up the Long Sen Dao.

***********************************************************************

Kikori felt herself shaking as she saw Shampoo fall unconscious, "Ranma?"

"..."

The priestess felt her chest tightened, "RANMA! Wake up!"

"..."

"No..."

"The fall of the tower begins here."

Kikori looks up to see Sakado holding the blade to his side, standing beside Ranma.

"What do you want!" Kikori said angrily, "He's dead..."

Sakado chuckled, "You seem so sure priestess. Have you no faith on your partner or your Goddess?"

Kikori glared at the Corrupted mage.

"He will live."

"Why do you care?"

Sakado looks at Kikori with a grim smile, "Have you heard of the prophecy of the reborned ancient?" Not waiting for an answer, Sakado continued on, "It says: 'And so, a warrior born from sorrow shall rise and fight. And the one of light shall give the child of the ancient. The warrior will give hope to child, the one of light shall give life. The child would carry the power of the ancient as they rise once again into the world.' Quite interesting wouldn't you say?"

"The... Prophecy..." Kikori murmured, "Ranma is the warrior born from sorrow?"

"Yes... and he will take part in making the child with the ancient's power. After I have him in my possession, I will need to find this 'One of light' then I can topple the tower's rule!"

"And whoever has this child would be the new power of the world." Kikori whispered to herself.

**But what about Ranma's OWN prophecy? Would he be find happiness if he follows this destiny? But this destiny needs him to be sorrowful. How can he be happy?**

"Yes." Sakado grinned, "I will be taking him now."

Kikori gasped and blocks Sakado's way, "You're not taking him anywhere!"

"You can't stop me priestess."

"_Goddess, let the healing heal, protect the helpless so that we may heal!_"

A white sphere spread from Kikori's body and surrounds herself and Ranma.

"A neat trick priestess," Sakado said with a sigh, "But how long can you hold it?"

"Forever if that is what I need to do." Kikori muttered.

***********************************************************************

"Hello Ranma."

Ranma blinked and rubbed his eyes to clear his vision. Immediately, he sees a girl's face staring at him.

"Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter who I am," The girl said with a tranquil smile, "You will meet me later."

"Where am I?"

The girl giggled, "Your half dead Ranma. Find yourself, then help your partner."

"Kikori!" Ranma jumped up and looked around, "How do I get back!"

Silence answered him. The pigtailed mage searched frantically for the girl that woke him up, "BRING ME BACK!"

***********************************************************************

"Ranma... please... if Sakado is right, please wake up." Kikori pleaded.

"Ugh?"

Kikori gasped in surprised and dropped her shield, "RANMA!"

"Hey Ki-chan." Ranma muttered and stood up, staggering a bit, "What did I miss?"

"Damn, I was hoping you'd stay unconscious."

Ranma frowned, "Well ya don't always get whatcha wanna get."

"True."

Ranma nodded to Kikori, "Shall we dance?"

Kikori smiled and walked up behind Ranma, holding her pendent to her chest.

Sakado raised an eyebrow, "Two on one? Hardly fair."

Right after he said his few words, Sakado starts throwing spells at random at the two mages, "Feel the might of the darkened wind!"

Dust raised from all the wind that the spells created covering Sakado's view of the two mages from the tower.

"_Goddess, restrain him!_" 

Sakado cursed himself and jumped into the air, barely dodging the thin line of light that was about to tie him up.

"_Air that pierce, wind that destroy. This is mine call, come at mine beck!_" a stake like cyclone charged towards the airborne corrupted mage.

"_Protect thy wielder oh dark winds!_" Sakado said quickly shot his left hand towards the on coming spell creating a barrier to stop it, "_Dark winds, RELEASE!_"

Ranma cursed in mid casting as the spell hit him in the leg, leaving a burn mark, "_I call upon the breath of a demon!_"

Sakado jumps aside to dodge the stream of needles.

"_Goddess of healing, aid Ranma in healing._" Kikori's pendent glows light blue and shot a beam of light towards Ranma's burnt leg, healing it.

"_POWERS OF WIND, I WIELD THEE! SHOW ME THY STRENGHT! LEND ME THY WEAPON!_" Ranma summoned a magically made sword and charged at Sakado.

"_I gather powers of darkness. Swirling winds of dying stench. Plague all that stands in the light!_" Sakado wasted no time and shot a beam of black magical energy towards Ranma who deflects it with his 'sword'. Ranma leaps into the air, points himself downwards, with his magic blade pointing to the ground.

"_Dark winds, I wield thee!_" Sakado muttered summoning his own magic sword, unlike Ranma's, it is gray in color.

The two swords clashed and exploded right after it touched each other, throwing the two spirit mages away in different directions. Kikori saw this and immediately starts casting, "_Goddess, prevent those to harm from harming more! Trap evil within your power!_" 

The pendent glows bright and released a small orb of light towards Sakado. It starts to grow in size as it got closer and when it finally reached the corrupted mage, it 'swallowed' him, trapping him within the with orb.

"There... done." Kikori smiled faintly and collapsed on the ground.

***********************************************************************

Ranma winced and dusted himself off and looked around to see an his opponent trapped in a white orb which is keeping him asleep, "Looks like Kikori got him. That means she must have fainted."

Ranma walked over to his partner and picked her up with his arms beneath her, "_PRINCESS OF ICE! GODDESS OF COLD! COMETH_." 

"You called? Again..." Artricia said laughing, "Wow two times in the same day!"

Ranma chuckled, "Yeah, can you wake the others up and tell them to get out of the castle before it decides to fall on top of us?"

"Ok."

The pigtailed mage smirked, "Ah nuts, didn't get the chance to punch that CSM in the face!"

***********************************************************************

"Mr.Ibuki, thanks again for the ride." Ranma said tiredly.

"What happen to you bunch," The ship captain said in bewilderment, "All of you have burn marks or cuts on you."

Ranma chuckled, "Well, we just fought someone, I mean it comes with the territory."

"Well, tell me about it, we have time before we reach shore."

Ranma grinned, "Not much to tell really, caught that guy over there." Ranma jerked his thumb towards the sleeping CSM, "But MAN can that guy throw a magic spell."

The captain laughed, "Well, why don't you sleep, I'll wake you up when we get to shore."

Ranma shook his head and looked down at his sleeping partner, "No... someone has to stay awake."

"Your call." Mr.Ibuki said turning his head back towards the sea, "We'll be there in about 3 hours."

***********************************************************************

"Kikori knows of the prophecy." A man in a dark cloak said.

"Yes, but she is loyal to the tower, it will not sway her." Another man wearing a red robe answer with confidence. He looked around to find three others, "I see those two have abandoned us. They must be taken cared of soon."

A third man wearing a green robe nodded, "Yes I agree."

"I'm not too worried about those two, they are not a threat to us when all four of us are together." The last man said before stepping out of the darkness revealing a silver robe, "The prophecy WILL happen to our favor."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WHEW... done! I'm kinda not so happy with this one... I don't know why. I think I should be happy with it, but for some reason, I think I could've done better... I dunno **Shrug**

The fight with Kalda is kinda short, I know, but I don't think it's the fight part that is important with Kalda. With him, I think it is revealing Ranma's past that is more important. The fight was only one of many that Ranma will have to participate. So I figured it wouldn't matter that much... at least I hope so.

Sorry... no Omake this time... I'm kinda drained from all the writing even though I spent so much time on this chapter already... If you have to blame someone, blame my teachers =p

Neways, next chapter... just a random day in Ranma and Kikori's life... or is it...


	14. Chapter 14

"I can't believe Zandia-Sensei would just up and leave saying that she is taking 'kiko-chan on a training trip!" Ranma exclaimed as he walked around in the 'Mystical Dimension', "I thought she promised us to keep the store open!"

Kikori giggled from the counter, "Well you don't really expect Zandia to really do that did you?"

"Not really." Ranma groaned, "Man, I can't believe I need to spent three hours dustin' the place! And I don't get why you won't let me use my spells!"

"Don't be so lazy." Kikori chided Ranma, "Your spell will mess up the enchantments on the items."

"Hmph." Ranma scowled, "My arm still hurts from all the dusting."

"I just realized something." Kikori said from the counter, "Where DID the Long Sen Dao went to?"

Ranma blinked, "Well I think it got blasted out of the tower when Sakado and my spell crashed together. It's probably in the bottom of the ocean."

"Oh..."

Silence takes over the shop. Shampoo went out to the market to buy some food for the three mages living in Nerima. After the mission, Hikari and Daishi went back to the Kyoto Tower to report back to the council. Mousse caught the last flight back to China and managed to hug Ranma in his cursed form think he was Shampoo. Needless to say, he was booted to the customs so he didn't get lost trying to read the signs. As for the Corrupted mage, he was sent to the Mage tower and is held there for opposing and disrupting the order of the world...

"Ranma..."

"Yeah?"

Kikori blushed and played with her hair, which has grown nearly to her waist, "Can you..."

Ranma smiled, "Sure, it's about time."

The priestess smiled brightly, "Thanks."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act 1: Chapter 14

Kikori and Ranma: Friends, Families, Bonds...

Shampoo hummed happily.

**So glad Great grand mother decided to let me stay in Japan. Ranma and Kikori both are so nice to me. Although I think an Amazon warrior shouldn't rely on people so much, I can't help but feel... content.**

The Amazon pushed open the door to the shop holding bags of groceries and some snacks that she is slowly getting addicted to, "I'm back!"

"Oh hey Shamps." Ranma grinned, "Whatcha got for us?"

Shampoo gave the spirit mage a growl, "My name is Xian Pu! Not Shamps!"

"Aww, don't be like Kikori." Ranma said, still grinning, "Anyway, can you take over for me for a few minutes, I need to buy something."

Shampoo huffed, "If you call me Shamps, I won't do anything for you."

Ranma sighed, "PLEASE, oh all mighty and powerful Xian Pu, I REALLY need you to take over for me! Just this once." Ranma clapped his hands together, closed his eyes, and dipped his head slightly in front of Shampoo.

Shampoo giggled, "Well, if you put it THAT way."

"You're the best Shampoo." Ranma said walking swiftly out the door, "Be back in a flash."

***********************************************************************

"I am SO glad I brought the shock sticks from the magic store." Akane exclaimed cheerfully as she walked along the streets of Nerima with her friends, "Kuno finally stopped those stupid challenges after a few shocks from those sticks."

Akane's friend giggled, "Yeah, I still have the picture of his face when you shocked him."

Akane gave her friend a look.

"Oh, I brought that picture from your sister. After all, who wouldn't want to look at Kuno's face when he is in that big of a shock."

Akane laughed, "But I wonder, where had he been after that. I haven't seen him since that day at school, or anywhere else for that matter."

"I'm not complaining." Akane's friend said happily, "Well, here's my stop, see you on Saturday!"

"Bai bai." Akane waved and headed back to her own home.

***********************************************************************

"I'm HOME!" Akane said loudly as she entered the Tendo home.

"Welcome back." Kasumi said with a smile, "We're in the living room."

Akane tilted her head in thought, **Huh? Do we have guests?**

"I'm really sorry Mister Tendo."

**Isn't that Ranma's voice?**

"Think nothing of it young man, you tried your best." 

Akane walked into the living room cautiously, "Hi."

Ranma and the eldest Tendo looked up, "Welcome back Akane."

"Good afternoon." Ranma said politely, "Anyway, the mage tower have instructed me to ask for your forgiveness and also if we can do anything to make up for the lost of the Long Sen Dao."

"Hmm." Soun frowned in deep thought, "It is all right, the blade isn't really ours by right anyway if you think about it."

"Huh?"

Akane blinked, "I thought that blade was our family heirloom?"

Soun nodded wisely, "Yes, that is only because our ancestors have 'won' it from another person." Soun shook his head, "The blade is said to have belonged to one of the five ancient tribes of an extinct race."

Ranma blinked, "You mean that blade is from the race that died few millennia ago from the 'War of lines'?"

"Yes," Soun nodded and then sighed, "When we obtained the blade, we were asked to keep it save and not let it be destroyed or used for anything that might disrupt the balance in the world. I guess getting it lost in the middle of the ocean is one way to keep it save."

Ranma nodded and smiled cheerfully, "Well, if ya want a favor from the mage tower, just ask and we'll help ya as best as we can!"

Soun stood up and bowed, "Thank you for coming, would you like to stay for dinner?"

The pigtailed mage shook his head, "Naw, Kikori is cookin' tonight. Dun want her to blow her top." Ranma grinned, "Oh yeah, can you tell me where the nearest hair salon is?"

The Tendos who are present blinked, "Sure..."

***********************************************************************

Kikori walks out of the storage room holding a note pad and a pen, "Ranma?"

"Ranma is out to buy something."

The priestess tilted her head, "Oh hello Shampoo. Did you get everything?"

Shampoo nodded, "I hope you don't mind if I didn't get any red peppers. I know we still have some in the kitchen and the once in the market doesn't look too good."

"Oh that's fine." Kikori smiled, "At least you're not like Ranma and picks up whatever he wants and not want we need." 

Shampoo laughed, "Males, can't rely on them unless it's working or fighting." Shampoo smirked, "And you can only rely on them in fighting if their 'machoness' is on the line."

Kikori laughed, "Well then you can rely on Ranma all the time, his 'machoness' is ALWAYS on the line."

The two girls smiled, "It's kind of quiet today, I wonder why." Shampoo remarked, "It's like we have competition."

Kikori shook her head, "It doesn't matter, they probably don't know that we are open again or they still haven't used up their charges yet."

"Oh," Shampoo nodded, "So you always have these quiet times?"

"Yep." Kikori walked back to the counter, "I wonder when Ranma would be back."

Shampoo raised an eyebrow and stared at Kikori intently.

Kikori gasped, "No, not like that! I just need to talk to him about something!"

The Amazon raised her other eyebrow and nodded understandingly before replying in a sing-song voice, "If you say so..."

Kikori fumed, "You are as infuriating as Ranma you know."

"Naw, I'm better at annoyin' ya."

Shampoo laughed, "So what did you get Ranma?"

Ranma held up a plastic bag, "This. It's nothing really."

"So what is it?" Shampoo asked.

"It's nothing for you to worry about," Ranma shrugged, "I'll put it in your room ok Kikori?"

"Ok, put it on top of my dresser please." Kikori answered, "Do I need to..."

"Naw, this one's on me." Ranma smirked, "Just cook me somethin' nice for dinner. Oh that Chinese recipe ya got from that Hong Kong restaurant is SO good! Cook that one!"

Kikori rolled her eyes, "Get going, you still haven't finished your shift yet!"

"Oh come on, it's not like anyone is coming right?" Ranma gestured to the door.

Shampoo blinked, **Hmm, I might want to look into this. I wonder what Ranma got for Kikori...**

***********************************************************************

Ranma sighed. It is another one of those days in a mage's life where he or she would rather die than do whatever they are doing. For Ranma, it is dying from being bored.

**GOD I wish some fight would break out or somethin'.**

Kikori shook her head as she watched Ranma shuffle in his seat behind the counter, "Oh get a grip on yourself Ranma. I can't believe you, you can stand quietly in a tree to wait for someone on a mission but you can't stand sitting here for ten minutes."

"It's a guy thing." Ranma replied automatically, "You won't understand."

"Just like I would NEVER understand why you are such a jerk right?" Kikori smiled brightly, "Of course, even YOU don't know why you act like such a jerk."

Ranma glared at his partner, "I am NOT a jerk." The pigtailed boy huffed, "Ya just too prissy. Hikari never complained about how I act."

"Bet she did." The priestess challenged.

"Oh yeah?"

Kikori stood there acting superior, "Of course."

Ranma glared at his partner for a few more seconds before sighing in defeat, "Damn."

Kikori smiled, "You know I'm always right."

Ranma grumbled, "Yeah yeah, whatever ya say."

"So," Kikori starts to play with her hair again, "When can you..."

"Well, no one is coming into the shop now," Ranma said lazily, "I guess I can do that now. I mean it's not like someone is going to be upset if the shop isn't open for an hour or so."

"What about Shampoo?"

Ranma blinked, "Dun worry 'bout her."

***********************************************************************

Shampoo wiped off her sweat as she entered the empty shop. After practicing with her weapon of choice for half an hour in the park, the Amazon finally decides to come back to the store to see if she can help out.

**Where are those two? I thought they need to keep the shop open...**

The Amazon frowned and slowly and quietly climbed up the stairs.

**Did something happen to the two?** Shampoo snorted to herself, **Oh like anything less than the gods can stop those two.**

"Ranma... not so hard! It's not like I have the hard-"

"HEY! why don't YOU stop squirming!"

"It's not like I can't squirm with you doing that!"

Shampoo froze as she heard Kikori yelped, "What are they doing..."

"RANMA!"

"Jeez... all right already."

Shampoo pressed her ears against the bathroom door from which the 'conversation' between Ranma and Kikori came from.

"By now you'd think you be good at this. NOT SO HARD! Your suppose to do this softly..."

"HA! Ya saying THIS is soft?"

"HEY! Don't make me paralyze you!"

"I thought Priestesses ain't suppose ta use their magic ta harm people." Shampoo can literally hear the smirk from Ranma.

"OW! Watch where you put that thing!"

The Amazon blushed, "THAT, sounded bad..."

"It's NOT a thing!"

"Hmph, I don't even KNOW why I ask you to do this."

"I didn't hear YOU complaining last month!"

Shampoo opened the bathroom door, wanting to know what the two are REALLY doing, "What are you two doing?"

Ranma had his left hand on Kikori's head, which is covered with shampoo (The hair care product, not the amazon), and his free hand holding a comb. Kikori is lying on an inclined chair with her head above the sink.

"I'm washin' Kikori's hair..."

"Getting my hair washed."

Shampoo blinked and blushed, "I can see that... but why?"

Ranma chuckled, "Well why don't we tell ya after I finish what we are doing."

Kikori frowned, "HEY! Get back to work!"

Ranma snorted, "Just relax, I need ta wash your hair before I can dye it again ya know. Plus, I thought ya think I suck at this"

The Priestess gave a cat like hiss, "Just go back to work!"

***********************************************************************

Shampoo watched in fascination as Ranma combed the hair dye into Kikori's hair with gentle precision, "Wow your good! Almost as good as the Xi Fa Xiang Gao Technique."

"The Xi Fa WHAT gao?" Kikori said shaking her head.

"Quit ya movin'." Ranma complained before explaining, "The Xi Fa Xiang Gao is a move that manipulates points on your head to alter a person's memory, something about a shampoo too."  


Shampoo nodded, "Maybe I can teach you THAT technique if Great Grand mother allows me to."

Ranma chuckled, "Naw, I don't like messin' with people's memories. Not my style."

Kikori giggled, "Your style is shoot first and ask questions later."  


"If ya keep moving, it won't be my fault that you end up eatin' shampoo for dinner."

"Why you want to feed me to Kikori?" The Amazon said cautiously as she pulled out her bon boris.

"NOT you Shampoo. I'm talking about shampoo, the hair care product!"

"I AM NOT A HAIR CARE PRODUCT!"

"ARGH!"

***********************************************************************

"Now just need ta wait till it's dry and we're all set!" Ranma said admiring his handy work, "Not too shabby if I must say."

Shampoo nodded, "How DO you get that shade of green anyways? I don't think that shade is on sell."

Ranma shrugged, "I dunno, it's on sell, you just need to find it." Ranma blinked, "Dun tell me ya want to dye your hair green too!"  


Shampoo shook her head, "I like my hair purple thank you very much."

Kikori stared at the Amazon's hair, "Is it NATRUALLY like that?"

"Yes, it's Amazon trait. Sign of a true warrior." Shampoo answered proudly, "My Great Grand Mother used to have purple hair too."

"Wow, THAT musta been a LONG time ago." Ranma commented 

The two girls giggled, "Don't be so disrespectful Ranma."

Shampoo grinned, "No worry. Grand Mother is not here." 

"So is stiff and dry hair like Kikori's a sign of a prissy priestess?"

Kikori pulled at Ranma's pigtail and gave him a whack on the head.

Shampoo laughed, "Now that you two are finished, would you tell me why you get Ranma to dye your hair?"

The two Japanese mages nodded, "Well it I guess I we started doin' this when we were eleven."

Kikori nodded, "It started out as a bet. Ranma and me weren't exactly friends back then, more like acquaintances. Friendly acquaintance, maybe, but not friends."

Ranma grinned, "It's mostly 'cause Kikori here is too up tight and won't talk to people 'cause they might distract her from her all important studies."

"RANMA!" Kikori huffed, "Anyway, Ranma was one of the only people that I actually talk to back then. Ranma, being Ranma wanted to get me to loosen up or something to that effect."

"So I dared her to dye her hair green." Ranma finished with a grin, "Kinda ironic too come ta think of it."

Shampoo frowned, "What was the bet?"  


"I betted that I can get a higher score than she could in the next magic theory test, if I won, then she'll dye her hair green; if SHE won, then I'll be her slave for a month." Ranma said proudly, "And I beat her soundly too if I might add."

Kikori ALMOST gave a pout, "I still say you cheated on that test."

Ranma laughed, "Sore loser!" Ranma ducked away from Kikori before she attempts to hit him in the head again, "So after the bet, Kikori likes her hair green like that so she kept on dyeing it."

Kikori nodded, "That's the whole story. Of course, my teachers were so freaked out when I dyed my hair they actually got some priest to send some wards over to the classroom." Kikori giggled at the memory, "That with the fact that Ranma got the top score on a test really scared them."

Ranma frowned, "I'm not THAT bad!"

"I'd think you are." Shampoo said thoughtfully, "After all, the saying two heads are better than one doesn't apply to males."

"HEY!"

***********************************************************************

"OH man, this is too good!" Ranma burped happily and sank into his chair, "If I can live with food like this for the rest of my life, I'd be the happiest man alive."

Shampoo smirked, "You probably grow fat and lazy if that happens."

"I wouldn't say that," Kikori replied for Ranma, "After all, he doesn't ONLY eat and sleep. There's magic and martial arts also."

"No fair, two against one!" Ranma protested, "I need some help!"

Kikori shrugged, "Hey, it's about time I got some help. It's always you and Ryoga against me. Now I have Shampoo on my side."

Shampoo snickered, "So WHO was the one playing unfair?"

"Ryoga took your side sometimes!" The pig tailed mage countered.

"Only when you start saying something insanely stupid." 

"What about that time when we were arguing about who gets the last portion of that rabbit meat I cooked!" Ranma said with a smirk, "That wasn't insanely stupid and he still took your side."

Kikori gave Ranma a 'you are SO dead' look, "After you ate almost EVERYTHING! We were lucky Ryoga showed up then!"

"It wasn't my fault someone cast a eating compulsion spell on me." Ranma complained, "Plus, I only ate three quarters of our supply!"

The two female mages stared at Ranma, "ONLY?"

Ranma grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

***********************************************************************

Shampoo frowned as she exited from the bathroom, after taking her bath, to find the house empty, "Kikori? Ranma?"

The Amazon walked out to the porch of the house and sees a ladder that leads to the roof. Being an Amazon, Shampoo jumped up to the roof instead of using the ladder.

"Whoa!"

"EEK!"

Shampoo blinked, "Oh hi."

Ranma let out a laugh, "Hey Shamps, what brings you to this part of our house?"

"It's XIAN PU!"

"Oh come on, lighten up, it's just a name." Ranma waved Shampoo's protest off.

"Most people in the mage tower doesn't even have a name," Kikori said to Shampoo, "We don't judge a person a their name in the mage tower. So most people that grew up there doesn't think that names are all that important."

Shampoo nodded, "Oh... Sorry for over reacting then."

Ranma shook his head, "Naw, dun worry 'bout it."

"So what ARE you two doing up on the roof at night?" Shampoo said slyly.

Both Ranma and Kikori blushed and turned their faces towards the night sky, "Star gazin'."

"We talk about other things when we're up here too." Kikori added.

Shampoo lay down on the other side of Ranma and joined the two in looking at the stars, "I wonder what Great Grand mother is doing."

"You miss her?" Kikori asked without turning her head.

Shampoo sighed, "I miss everyone from the village. I wonder why I took this quest in the first place. Did I take it for the challenge? Or maybe because I wanted to explore the outside world."

Ranma chuckled, "I think ya just got taunted into doing this."

The Amazon blinked and thought for a second, "Hmm, maybe you're right..."

The three mages burst into laughter that echoed though the town of Nerimia and faded into the night sky...

***********************************************************************

__

Why are you sitting here?

'Cause I want to sit here.

Don't you get lonely?

...

I don't like being lonely.

...

Can you be my friend?

... Sure...

Really!

I guess so...

I'm Kikori! Nice to meet you!

I'm Ranma...

Why are you so sad?

Because... Maybe because I was born this way...

Huh? What do you mean?

I dunno, wanna go and play?

Sure!

"Childhood dreams..." Ranma whispered softly as he slowly awaken from his sleep, "Did I really say that when I first met Kikori? I don't remember saying that..."

"You awake Ranma?"

Ranma looked up to see his partner walk into the room, "Yeah."

"I..."

"Still can't sleep right after a mission huh?" Ranma chuckled making the priestess blush in embarrassment, "I just woke up from a dream."

"About what?"

"Kikori, have I ever said to you that I was born sad?" Ranma asked.

The priestess frowned, "I don't think so..."

"Oh..." Ranma shuffled across his bed, "Well, you might as well get in, it's cold tonight. Don't want ya to catch a cold now."

Kikori smiled softly and joined Ranma on his bed, "Thanks Rammie."

"Goodnight Ki-chan."

"Nmm." Kikori nodded her head and sighed.

***********************************************************************

"Aiya, this 'Omelet' tastes so good!" Shampoo said blissfully and then taking another large bit of her meal.

Ranma smirked, "I still like Kikori's pancakes better!"

The Priestess blushed, "It's nothing really."

Ranma paused in his eating, "Ya know, I'm getting a feeling that me and Kikori are forgetting somethin'."

"I'm getting that feeling too." Kikori said.

Shampoo shrugged.

"Oh yeah," Ranma said, suddenly remembering, "Welcome to the family Shampoo."

Kikori chided herself, "How can I have forgotten this, Welcome to the family."

Shampoo blinked in confusion.

Ranma laughed, "We say that to every new member that has joined us 'semi-permanently'. The tower told us to try to keep the new members they gave us so we try to treat them like family."

Shampoo smiled brightly, "Glad to be part of the family."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry for not updating for the past two months... I got a new computer and was busy playing War Craft 3 cuz some of my friends got me hooked on it... Anyway, here is another chapter. It's rather short I think so I'll try to get another chapter up as fast as I could now that I'm writing again. Hopefully my writing skills haven't gone down from the two months of not writing =p Comments, Flames, Hate mails, they are all welcomed ^^ Just make sure if you are sending hate mails, your sending them to the write e-mail address =p

Anywho, no real plot in this chapter, just tons of plot hole filling and stuff like that. The next chapter should be more interesting though...

****

Omake Forgetfulness! **Omake**

"Aiya, this 'Omelet' tastes so good!" Shampoo said blissfully and then taking another large bit of her meal.

Ranma smirked, "I still like Kikori's pancakes better!"

The Priestess blushed, "It's nothing really."

Ranma paused in his eating, "Ya know, I'm getting a feeling that me and Kikori are forgetting somethin'."

"I'm getting that feeling too." Kikori said.

"Oh yeah!" Ranma punched his palm, "What's the next line?"

"CUT!"

"RANMA!" Kikori yelled, "This is the TWENTITH TIME YOU FORGOT!"

"Ya know, I think I'm REALLY forgetting something other than my line." Ranma said.

Kikori blinked, "Me too."

"Oh what is it now! WE HAVE A DEADLINE PEOPLE!"

"BROTHER! JUST GET ON WITH IT! I'M HUNGRY!" Saiko shouted from behind the camera man, "I still have a date to go to you know!"

"OH yeah! Kikori, you left your skirt in my apartment this morn...ing..." Ranma's voice trailed off, "oops..."

Kikori blushed, "RANMA!"

"Ohh, look at the love birds!" Shampoo grinned, "When are you sending the invitations to your wedding?"

"SHUDDAP!"

"OHH, Mom is SOO going to be happy." Saiko grinned, "I can hear her now saying how manly her son is."

"SAIKO! I'm WARNING YOU!" Ranma growled.

Kikori covered her head with her arms over the table, "This isn't happening..."

"Guys... can we PLEASE get with the filming!"

And this is why this chapter came out so late, I blame it on the cast...

****

Omake! End **Omake!**

Just a silly little thingy... That really happened! I swear! =p


	15. Chapter 15

"Hey, isn't that Kuno?"

"Oh yeah! Looks like he got a new sword."

"Oh my god, he actually looks half decent with that sword tied to his back, I'm kinda scared. Kuno and looking half decent just never goes into the same sentence."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. You usually use dumb or half-witted with Kuno..."

The self proclaimed Champion of Kendo growled, "I am just BESIDE YOU, YOU INFIDEL!"

"Well, at least he's still got that weird speech."

"Yeah, so he's still a duffus. That's a relieve, sign number one of the apocalypse is not here yet."  


"DIE CRETIN!"

"Eep."

Nabiki shook her head as Kuno chased two of the stupider students around the school yard holding his usual Bouken, but still having the new sword tied to his back, "Hmm, I wonder what that sword is? Was he away for three weeks just to get that sword? Not the usual Katana too; looks like a Japanese Great sword."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act 1: Chapter 15

Fire and Wind... Water? What water?

The chimes hung near the door of the Mystical Dimension ring lightly as the door to the shop opens once again.

"Welcome the Mystical dimension, please feel free to look around and don't try to use something that you have no idea what it's for." Ranma said monotonously, "If ya need help, just call and I'll be right with you."

"Is that anyway to treat a friend that is coming to visit you?"

Ranma blinked twice before looking up from his sit behind the counter, "Hikari! What are ya doin' here!"

The fire spirit mage grinned, "Oh I'm just using my vacation break for a rest. I mean after fighting a CSM then getting caught in the middle of a tribal war that small island a little ways away from Australia, your bound to get tired."

The pig-tailed mage laughed, "It's great ta see ya and all. Just didn't expect ta see ya this soon."

Hikari smiled, "So how's your little shop doing?"

"Oh, it's doin' pretty good," Ranma said with a shrug, "Just gets borin' 'lotta times. Oh nice hair cut by the way."

Hikari grinned brightly again, her hair is cut so that it only reached the back of her neck, but the hair on the side of her head as grown until it reached her stomach with a small ribbon and a small green stone tied to the end.

"You like?" Hikari asked tilting her head.

Ranma blinked, "I guess, but wouldn't your hair get in the way if ya fighting?"

"No, I tried fighting with this hair already," Hikari said absent-mindedly, "Works fine if you ask me."

Ranma suddenly grins, "Ya know, if I didn't know better, I'd say ya flaunting your chest at me."

"Huh?" Hikari blinked and looked down to see her hair, which is getting weighted down by the stone, pressing against her shirt right in the middle of her chest.

"Impressive," Shampoo said popping up from nowhere.

"GAH!" Ranma jumped, "DON'T DO THAT!"

Shampoo giggled, "Ah, your no fun, but really, that little move can be ranked up with the Amazonian Glomp!"

"The what?" Hikari said staring at the Amazon.

"Amazonian Glomp, it's a technique used to trap and seduce men." Shampoo said seriously, "Your move is good, it's subtle, but can't do anything about men that don't really look at you."

"You've got to be kidding me," Hikari said shaking her head in disbelieve, "I have to see it to believe it."

"Okay." Shampoo said and suddenly jumps towards Ranma and glomping him.

"Hey Ran... Okay, am I interrupting something?" Kikori said wiry as she looked at the scene in front of her.

Ranma just stood there, mouth gaping like a fish on land. The other spirit mage looked at Shampoo with an amused glint in her eyes. Shampoo is just snuggling into Ranma's chest.

"Umm... I'll be upstairs Ranma, come see me when you're done here..."

Hikari bursts out laughing suddenly, "Oh, Shampoo was just showing us this men seducing technique to me."

"... umm... okay?" Kikori blinked in confusion, "This place gets weirder everyday."

Shampoo finally lets go, "See, it's good technique! Ranma is gaping like a fish now."

"Actually, he's gaping like that because you managed to push him right into the stun wand." Kikori said hiding her giggle, "I think you should bring him to his room, I'll take over for him."

Hikari shook her head and watched as Shampoo looked sheepish and carried Ranma to his room guiltily, "I'll take care of the shop, you go look after that idiot."

"Bu-."

"Just go," Hikari said rolling her eyes, "You're the only priestess around here you know."

Kikori sighed in resignation, "I'll be back soon."

"You better!" Hikari huffed, "This is my vacation after all."

***********************************************************************

"Aiya, I'm so sorry." Shampoo said apologetically, "I really don't know there was stun wands behind you!"

"Hmph." Ranma huffed as he shuffled more food into his mouth.

"Oh give the girl a break Ranma," Hikari said pausing from her dinner, "Your acting like a wuss."

"HEY!" Ranma protested, "Besides, I'm just having a little fun with Shampoo! It's not like I'm really mad at her ya know."

"Your impossible Ranma." Kikori sighed, "After being around you for so long, one would think I'd be used to your bad humor."

Hikari laughed, "If there is one thing you learn when you're around Ranma, it's that you'll never get used to his humor."

"I'm not THAT bad..." Ranma grumbled.

"Hmph, and to think that I was really worried about you." Shampoo huffed, "Next time I see you in pain, I'll just leave you there."

"You'll carry me back right Kikori?" Ranma said innocently.

"You know, I think I'll let Hikari carry you back here the next time you are in trouble." Kikori said hiding a small smile.

"WHAT! I'm not carrying him in!" Hikari screamed, "I'll break my nails if I do!"

"I feel SOOO wanted..." Ranma deadpanned as his head slumped onto the table.

***********************************************************************

"Hey Ranma!"

"Hello Nabiki, what can I do for you?" Ranma replied politely.

"Oh, nothing, I'm just relaying a message for someone." Nabiki answered and handed Ranma an envelope, "Here I think Kuno wants a rematch."

"Huh?" Ranma scratched his head, "Who?"

"The guy you fought in Furinkin high?" Nabiki said, "The guy with the bouken? Bad Poetry? Samurai wannabe?"

"Ohhh, THAT idiot..." Ranma said slowly, "Why does he want a rematch?"

"Well, he's be away from Nerima for few weeks and now he's carrying this HUGE Japanese Great Sword with him everywhere." Nabiki replied professionally, "I'd say he want to use that sword on you."

"Oh well," Ranma said putting aside the letter, "Tell him I accept."

"Okay." Nabiki said cheerfully, "See you around."

"Bye..." Ranma shrugged and opened the envelope, "let see, foul sorcerer yaddi yaddi yadda, I challenge you to a glorious yak yak yak... Meet me at the field on Saturday..." Ranma rolled his eyes, "What a waste of ink and paper."

"What's a waste?" 

Ranma turned to see his partner behind him, "Oh just take a look at this."

Kikori took the letter and read it over, "I think it's very dramatic. Like one of those samurai movies, the heroic warrior is challenging the evil sorcerer to mortal combat and only using his skills to rescue the maiden in distress."

Ranma stared at Kikori, "I think you've been reading too much of you sappy novels."

Kikori giggled, "I was just joking."

Ranma smiled, **Kikori is finally relaxing herself more now. She's been more relaxed since fighting that CSM. I wonder why...**

"Well, looks like I'll be fightin' a 'heroic' warrior in mortal combat on Saturday." Ranma said jokingly, "I wonder what evil plan I'll use."

"Well, you can always use your unique spell." Kikori said offhandedly, "At least you'll finish the fight with one spell."

"And killin' that idiot along the way." Ranma said dryly, "I don't think so."

Kikori shook her head, "I still can't believe how powerful that spell you made up was. I still don't believe you."

"Do I ever lie ta ya Kikori." Ranma frowned.

"No, but you exaggerate everything good about you." Kikori replied quickly.

The pigtailed mage groaned, "I'm tellin' ya the truth!"

"I think not."

"AM TOO!"

***********************************************************************

Hikari hummed happily as she walked in the streets of Nerima, her blond hair swayed as she cheerfully skipped along the streets, **God, I feel like I'm in high school again! Guess I'm still a kid at heart.**

Pausing from her walk, she looks around her, **This town doesn't seem too bad, but for some reason I'm getting a bad vibe...**

"What is this!"

Hikari blinked and turned to the source of the voice. A guy, about one year younger than her wearing a school uniform with a huge sword on his back

**That Sword seems so familiar**

"Doth mine eye deceive me or is there an angel gracing the grounds of this noble town!"

The fire spirit mage blushed when she realize that the guy was talking about her, "Umm, shouldn't you be in school right now?"

"Hmph!" The guy huffed, "A Man with intelligence, such as me, need not the facility of learning to succeed in this world."

"Huh?" Hikari tilted her head. **Whoa, this guys is full of himself.**

"Fair lady, what is thy name?"

"Err, I-"

"Wait! Isn't it proper to introduce myself first?" The guy pulled out a bouken from nowhere, "I am Takewaki Kuno! The rising Kendo star of Furinkin High! My peers call me the BLUE THUNDER! Age, 17."

Hikari sweatdropped, "I'm Hikari Funko."

"Ah, Hikari! A name worthy of the golden mane that you possess." Kuno said putting his bouken away and pulling a bouquet of roses out, "Let us date!"

"I think not." Hikari muttered, "_Fury of fire, show all your might_."

Hikari pointed her finger at Kuno and immediately, his bouquet of rose starts to burn.

"Ahh, the passion that I have for you is burning so great, even the roses I present to you catches on fire!"

"Oh brother..." Hikari sighed, "Hey, aren't you the guy that is suppose to fight Ranma?"

"The sorcerer?" Kuno blinked, "You know of the evil sorcerer that has his evil claws on the green haired goddess of calmness?"

Hikari stared at the guy, **And to think I actually blushed a bit when he was sprouting his poetry**

"You can say that..."

"Ah, then can you give this," Kuno whipped out another bunch of rose, "to the goddess?"

"Yeah... sure..." Hikari said shaking her head and taking the roses, "See you around."

"May we meet again."

"I'll be praying to god that we won't." Hikari muttered, "Yep, all good men are either taken, totally clueless or dead."

***********************************************************************

"For me?" Kikori stared at Hikari and took a step backwards, "I'm not like that you know."

The fire Spirit mage blushed, "It's not like that! Kuno, that guy with the bouken and the sword on his back, asked me to give this to you."

Kikori blinked and took the roses, "Umm... why?"

Just then, Ranma walked in, "Hey... WHOA!"

Kikori blushed and hid the roses behind her back, "Umm... Hi Ranma."

"Err, Not that I have anything against same sex relationships... but I never realized that both of you are..."

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Both females present shouted.

"Am I the only normal person in this shop?" Ranma sighed melodramatically, "Can I ever get a normal life ever again?"

Hikari snickered, "I doubt YOU of all people can qualify as normal."

"Plus, these flowers are from Kuno." Kikori added and threw the roses into the nearest garbage bin, "I still don't get why he doesn't just say my name."

The two spirit mages scratched their heads in unison. Awkward silence spread over the shop as the three tries to figure out Kuno's reasoning. (As frustrating and useless as it is.)

"Anyway," Hikari said breaking the sudden silence, "What do you think of the duel your going to have with him. I'm certain that the sword on his back is magical in nature. Not to mention I think I've seen it before somewhere..."

"Magical?" Ranma said in shock, "Whoa, that idiot actually got his hands on a MAGICAL weapon?"

"Well, he MUST be competent in SOMETHING." Kikori said logically, "Just like you are competent in magic and fighting, but the rest..."

Ranma gave Kikori a short glare, "Say, where is that eagle of yours? I haven't seen it in a while."

Kikori shrugged and whistled out, "He'll come if he's around."

PECK!

"OW!" Ranma covered his head and ran behind Hikari, "WHAT IS WITH YOU AND PECKING ME!"

Fudari gave a chirp cheerfully and landed on Kikori's shoulder.

"You never told me you have a pet eagle!" Hikari said looking at the eagle, "He looks SOO cute."

"Fudari is a she." Kikori replied, "And I think she is more majestic than cute."

The eagle puffed out her feathers in response to Kikori's comment.

"That bird is so smart it scares me." Ranma said, walking back out from behind Hikari, "And I STILL don't get why ya keep pecking me!"

"Maybe he just likes playing with you." Hikari said snickering, "Or maybe she is protecting Kikori from your evil and perverted grasp."

"Tch, I'm outta here." Ranma walked back into the store, "I'll be in my room."

"I almost feel sorry for Ranma." Hikari said with a smile, "But then again, after the stunts he pulled when we are still in the tower, I'd say he deserves it."

Kikori only smiled and petted the eagle on her shoulder.

***********************************************************************

"Can someone tell me why I'm here again?" Ranma asked as he stood in the middle of Furinkin high's field, which is surround by students and other Random people that are curious.

"You accepted Kuno's challenge to a duel and now you're waiting for him." Kikori said matter of factly.

"And what is taking him so long?" Ranma said impatiently.

"You'll have to ask him personally." Kikori replied.

"I'll do that after I beat the crap outta him." Ranma snarled.

"AH, so the sorcerer DID show is visage today!" Kuno exclaimed as he walked dramatically into the field, "PREPARED TO BE VANQUISHED FOUL SORCERER!"

Kuno pointed his bouken at Ranma as blue lightning flashed behind him.

Ranma blinked and then shrugged, **Well, if ya wanna make opening speeches...**

"HA! Your feeble skills are no match for the magic that I wield! You shall not succeed!" Ranma shouted back and called a little wind to swirl around him, "My purifying wind shall punish you for your accusation!"

***********************************************************************

Everyone watching sweatdropped.

***********************************************************************

"This is the first time someone actually made a speech with a duel with Kuno," Nabiki commented, "They usually just try to beat the crap out of Kuno right after his speech."

Akane shivered, "Let's just hope Ranma doesn't turn into an other Shakespearean freak."

"I seriously doubt that." Nabiki answered her litter sister, "It's probably a one time thing."

"I hope so..."

***********************************************************************

"Standard rules of engagement, No mortal blows or skills or spells of massive destruction that might endanger others. Anything else may be used." Kikori said raising her hand, "Ready! FIGHT!"

**I feel like I'm in a fighting game.** Ranma thought to himself and held his right palm in front of him, "_I forth the winds! Come, GATHER!_"

Kuno charged at the pigtailed mage, as expected, wielding his usual bouken, "HAVE AT THEE!"

"_RELEASE!_" 

Kuno frowned in concentration, his bouken starts to glow yellow and he pulls it in front of him to block the ball of magical wind.

Only to have the bouken knocked out of his hand.

"H-How is this possible!" Kuno stared at his now empty hands.

"You may have learnt how to focus your ki into your bouken to counter my magic," Ranma said, "But you still haven't trained yourself to block a magic spell!"

"IMPOSSIBLE!"

***********************************************************************

Hikari blinked, "That's it? I was hoping for more of a fight."

Kikori shrugged, "Well, at least it was faster than the last time they fought."

"And to think I actually thought he had a might put up a decent fight." Hikari sighed, "God what a waste of time."

"Wait, I think Kuno still has something up his sleeve." The priestess said pointing towards the fight, "He's pulling out something."

***********************************************************************

"Hmph, I was thinking that I wouldn't need to use a weapon such as this against a peasant like you," Kuno boasted as he pulled out his newly enquired great sword. The sword is as almost the height of Kuno with a clear at the end of the handle. The handle itself is very plain and is wrapped with a leather grip. The blade is also very plain except for the fact that the tip is curved slightly upwards, like a hook. "But it seems that I would be needing to use this against you."

Ranma blinked and looked at the sword, "what the..."

"I see you shivering in fear at the sight of the sword." Kuno said with a small smile, "I PRESENT TO YOU ALL! The mage slayer! SORAHI KEN!"

"The... Sky fire sword..." Ranma whispered, "I'm not seeing things am I?"

***********************************************************************

"Oh my GOD he has the sky fire." Hikari grimaced, "Someone is going to get hurt. No wonder that sword seem so familiar."

Kikori gave Hikari a quizzical look.

"Just watch."

***********************************************************************

"Looks like Kuno-chan is using his new toy." Nabiki said, "Wonder what's got Saotome so shocked."

"Maybe it's because it's like those two martial artist that challenged him and Kikori to a duel," Akane guessed, "It's completely useless."

"I hope not." Nabiki said, "If the fight ends too quickly, then I'd be losing BIG money."

"Huh?"  


"People are betting on how long Kuno can last against Ranma." Nabiki explained as she took out her notepad and ledger, "If Kuno lasts more than five minutes, I'll be gaining some extra spending cash."

"..."

***********************************************************************

"Prepare to taste the power of mine sword!" Kuno yelled and made a horizontal slash with the sword at the air in front of him. A line of fire shot forward towards Ranma who cast his fight spell to dodge, "Come down onto the ground and fight like a man sorcerer!"  


"_I call forth the sword of wind!_" Ranma summoned his own blade and swooped down towards the Kendoist, who brought his sword up to parry it. 

Grunting at the pressure, Kuno made a swing to throw Ranma back onto the ground but the pigtailed mage flipped in the air and landed on the floor safely, "_I call upon the breath of a demon!_"

Streams of air, made to needles rushed towards Kuno and Ranma quickly followed behind them, "_I forth the wind! GATHER!_"

Kuno used the flat of his sword to block incoming needles and jumped to the side to dodge a hook punch from Ranma, "HA! Your feeble attempt to attack me failed!"

"Not quite." Ranma grinned, "_RELEASE!_"

The Kendoist flew back after the ball of magic hit him in the stomach, and landed on his back with his sword by his side.

"It is not over yet!" Kuno said taking his sword again, "I fight on!"

"Not this time your not!" Ranma muttered, "_I call upon the weapon of nature!_"

The pig-tailed mage released a wave of strong wind towards Kuno knocking him down on the ground once again, "_Wind, you are the weapon of death!_"

Kuno rolled on the ground to dodge the spell and once again stands up with his sword, "SORAHI KEN! SHOW HIM THY MIGHT!"

Fire swirled around the blade like a snake choking its prey.The Gem at the end of the sword starts to glow bright green but if you look closely, a speck of red is seen. The leather grip seems to melt into the handle, turning it into gold and the blade glows bright red from the flames that swirl around it.

"Looks like Kuno does know how to use that thing." Ranma licked his lips and watched cautiously, "I shouldn't have EVER made that thing with Hikari."

***********************************************************************

Hikari grimaced, "He knows how to use our sword."

"Our sword?" Kikori blinked, "You mean you made that sword?"

"Yeah, me and Ranma." Hikari giggled nervously, "You know the final project that we needed to do in the tower."

"Yeah," Kikori said with a nodded, "That's when I managed to cast resurrection for more that five seconds."  


"Well, me, Ranma, and this imbuer made that." Hikari said pointing towards the sword, "Basically, Ranma is fighting against his own and my magic along with whatever the imbuer felt like putting in there."

"I'll get some burn ointment for after the duel." Kikori sighed.

"I can't believe he gave HIM that sword!" Hikari fumed, "I am SO going to kill Kenji the next time I see him."

***********************************************************************

"I am SO going to kill Kenji the next time I see him." Ranma growled silently.

"I see you are speechless at the might of my sword." Kuno laughed, "I the Blue Thunder shall defeat you!"

**Great, I'm going up against my own school project...** Ranma thought bitterly, **Well at least it'll be a fun fight to win**. 

"Ya know, we might as well get the fight over with," Ranma said with a smirk, "I think I might fall asleep from getting' bored if this keeps up."

"You DARE mock the great Blue Thunder!" Kuno growled, "I STRIKE!"

The Kendoist starts thrusting his great sword at Ranma at high speeds throwing fireballs at him summoned by the magical sword. 

"_I call forth the wind! Gather! RELEASE AND SCATTER!_" Ranma yelled quickly, summoning a wall of green balls of wind countering all the fireballs, "_Wind, you are the weapon of DEATH!_" Ranma throws the spell towards the relentless attacker and dodge to the side to avoid the other fireballs.

Kuno stops his attack to block the flying scythe of magic before twisting his body and swings the Sorahi ken towards the mage. A pillar of fire explodes from the ground and quickly makes its way towards the wind spirit mage.

"_I call forth the barrier of souls!_" Ranma thrusts his hands to his side and the air in front of him shimmers as if solidifying blocking the pillar of fire, but Ranma is still flung away.

**Damn, forgot about MY magic...** Ranma cursed himself.

"HA! Seems like your magic can not face that of mine sword!" Kuno gloated, "NOW PERISH!"

"Fine, kid gloves are off." Ranma muttered, "_Shimmering lines of broken air, let mine body slip through the holes of reality!_"

Kuno makes a horizontal slash towards Ranma summoning a large ball of fire, which flies towards the mage in an arc...

BOOM!

And explode when it touched the ground.

"HA! The foul sorcerer is defeated!" Kuno yelled towards the crowd who stares at him. "Yes, admire my handsome visage and my glorious victory against the foul mage!"

"_The Wind is my walkway_."

"Kuno, ya might want to learn ta watch ya back." 

"WHAT!" Kuno turns to face Ranma nose to nose, scowl to smirk.

"Bye bye," Ranma said cheerfully, "_Powers of uninhibited winds, thy powers are at my call. Come to me oh winds of destruction, SHOW THE UNWORTHY OUR POWER!_"

Kuno's pupil shrunk as tries to move away only to find that the air seems to be as thick as water, literary. 

A tight tornado picks up immediately and green lines of light shot out from the ground in the tornado, but none hitting Ranma himself. The wind strengthens and picks up a loose rock on the ground, lifting it and knocking the great sword from Kuno's hand onto the ground.

"So how did ya like one of my big fours Kuno?" Ranma said casually after the spell ended and picked up the sword from the ground, "It's nice that ya found a magic sword, but I really think that ya shouldn't be usin' a weapon against it's own creator."

"Wh-what's this!" Kuno gasped.

"Feather light," Ranma mumbles and holds the sword up with one hand, "It's really too bad ya haven't found the swords desperate spells. Ya might have beaten me if you had." The mage holds the sword against Kuno's neck, "Ya Yield?"

"You have won... for now." Kuno admits grudgingly, "I'll be challenging you again once I have mastered my ki defense against you magic."

"Lookin' forward to it." Ranma said cheerfully and waves the sword above his head.

***********************************************************************

"Wow, Ranma's stronger than he looks." Akane said with wide eyes.

"Sis, when did you become the princess of understatments?" Nabiki said shaking her head, "HE IS WAVE A GREAT SWORD WITH ONE HAND OVER HIS HEAD!"

"Actually, he just activated the weightless spell on the sword." Hikari said as she walked over to Nabiki to collect her winnings, "It has more stuff on it, but that spell is one of Ranma's favorites when he wants to intimidate people."

"Huh?" The two Tendos stare at the Hikari.

"Ranma, me and some other guy made that sword," Hikari explained, "It's a school project that we did. At first, we wanted to try to make a sword whose power is greater than the 'Flameberge', the greatest of the fire swords. Of course, it didn't work out, but the Sorahi-ken does have its perks."

"What's that?" Akane asked curiously.

"Well, most fire swords have one flaw, if you manage to make a space in front of you airless, then it's long range attacks would be useless, which renders the sword's efficiency by half already." Hikari said, "But his sword, because of Ranma's wind magic, can throw fireballs even in space since there is wind magic to fuel that fire."

"So in other words..." Nabiki said.

"It's just another fire sword with tidbits of nifty spells on it." Hikari said seriously, "Not to mention the desperate spell on it."

"You making it sound like a video game." Akane said giggling a bit.

"Ranma insisted." The fire spirit mage said with a shrug, "Well, it's a good idea, I guess, but it drains the sword's magic for a whole day before you can use it again. So... where's my money?"

***********************************************************************

"Kenji." Ranma growled into the telephone, "WHY DID YOU GIVE OUR FREAKING SCHOOL PROJECT TO A SAMURAI WANNABE!"

The two other mages shook their heads as Ranma screamed into the telephone.

"Did you know HOW much those spells HURT!" Ranma panted lightly, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN A GARAGE SELL!"

Kikori blinked, "Garage sell?"

"The tower held a garage sell?" Hikari said bewildered, "Don't tell me the tower needs money because I KNOW for a fact that they don't."

"Whose idea was that?" Ranma growled, "LANDAL'S!" 

After a few more minutes of shouting Ranma finally slams the phone back to where it sat, "Remind me to kill Landal the next time I see him."

"I'll warn him when I get back to the tower." Hikari said.

"Please, as much as I dislike that man, he doesn't deserve to die just yet." Kikori said giggling a little. Her eagle chirped in agreement to her owner.

***********************************************************************

Name: Ranma Saotome

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Mage Type: Spirit, Talent: Caller

Level: 3rd circle spirit mage, first level Caller

Ranma Saotome completed is one of the five know spirit mage to have reached third circle at the age of 13. He was inducted into the tower as a free mage at the age of seven with his sister, Saiko. Unfortunately, his sister never did have his talent in magic and ended up just following him. At the age of ten, one year after the death of his sister, he has reached the fourth circle but unable to go on missions due to his education. At age 13, along with his ascension to 3rd circle, he has completed his high school education and is partnered up with Kikori Sekihara who has been a shrine priestess for a year. Together, they completed a total of 35 different missions in the three years. Most notable is the break up of the anti-tower cult in Kure.

Name: Kikori Sekihara

Gender: Female

Age: 16

Mage Type: Priest/Priestess

Branch: Goddess of Healing

God Focus: Pendent of Crystal tears

Kikori Sekihara became a full priestess at the age of twelve. She is born to two mages already in the mage tower. Her mother, a channler, and father, a priest, died during an accident on one of their missions. Sadden by the lost of her parents, Kikori buried herself in her studies and passed the trials of healing and becomes a priestess of the Goddess of Healing. She gained her god focus by the age of 13 when she manages to cast and hold a Godly spell, Resurrection, for more than five seconds. She is partnered up with Ranma Saotome quickly after she has gained her focus.

Comments from the council: The two separated are very powerful and skilled, but combined, they are even stronger and they can even defeat a mature dragon if the need rises. Because of Ranma's restrictions as a talent1, they can not out power most other mages, but they can defeat people with their superior defense summoned by Kikori and precise attacks from Ranma's spells. From their success, we have deemed that they shall stay in partnership until the council says otherwise.

Talents cannot tap into the true power of any of the classes that they can summon, but there are legends and ancient texts that say otherwise. 

Landal snorted, "What a bunch of bull."

"It IS true to a certain extent Landal."

"Elder." Landal dipped his head and continues to read the profile.

"Landal, read it, learn from it, and tell me what you see."

"..."

"You are not ready," The elder of the spirit mage said, "Nor are the others in the council."

"What do you mean?"

"The Prophecy... THEIR Prophecy... compare it to their profile."

Landal frowned, "What are you getting at elder?"

"We shall see."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Call me dull, but this chapter is just a filler =p. I want to show a bit of Ranma's doings as a mage and some other stuff in this chapter. It's the NEXT chapter that I'll be having lots of fun writing. I'm going to get Happosai in the next chapter BWAHAHAHA.

The end of the first act of this story is almost finished, just need to set it up for the second act and all would be good. Well before you ask, yes there is going to be a epic battle between Ranma and someone at the end =p it just won't be Ranma without one of those crazy things. Like always Reviews are appreciated but not necessary =p I'll just keep writing to annoying those of you who think it's bad BWAHAHAA =p

****

Omake! Desperation attack! **Omake!**

"Well, most fire swords have one flaw, if you manage to make a space in front of you airless, then it's long range attacks would be useless, which renders the sword's efficiency by half already." Hikari said, "But his sword, because of Ranma's wind magic, can throw fireballs even in space since there is wind magic to fuel that fire."

"So in other words..." Nabiki said.

"It's just another fire sword with tidbits of nifty spells on it." Hikari said seriously, "Not to mention the desperate spell on it."

"You making it sound like a video game." Akane said giggling a bit.

"Actually, it's nothing like a video game." Hikari said with a sigh, "I have no idea what gave Ranma that idea."

"HEY! THAT'S NOT THE SCRIPT!"

"Well, if it's REALLY Ranma's idea, he'll make the sword be able to give him his super nifty armor and transform into this super hero." Hikari countered.

"STAY WITH THE SCRIPT!"  


"Plus, I won't want a super nifty armor!" Ranma added from behind, "I'd want a new leather outfit for Kikori." Ranma finished, winking at Kikori, who blushed.

"I don't think you'd want Mother to hear that Ranma." Saiko grinned holding a tape recorder out, "Revenge is sweet dear brother."

"Aw, come one Saiko!" Ranma sighed, "So what if I told Mom that ya boyfriend was makin' out wit ya yesterday! Plus, mom would just say I'm bein' manly."

"Grrrr." Saiko growled.

"HEY! That's a good idea I came up with," Ranma said grinned, "Yo Script guy! Can ya make a lemon scene with me and Kikori with the 'desperate' move of the sword."

"I can't believe I'm dating him." Kikori groaned before taking out her whip, "I'd stop before I start whipping Ranma."

"So that's why Pops always said never date chicks with whips..." Ranma said.

"Ah yes, the path to a women's heart is fraught with peril." Kuno said wearing a t-shirt and jeans.

"You sound like Pops."

"You insult me."

****

Omake! End **Omake!**

Err... one of my worst... I think.... Anywho, next chapter! DEMON VS GODDESS! WILL GOOD PREVAIL! OR WILL THE PERVERTED RULE NERIMA! Tune in next time =p


	16. Chapter 16

"AHCHOO!"

Kikori sniffed and huddled into her blanket more as a sudden chill went up her spine. Ranma placed another wet cloth onto the Priestess' forehead and sighed.

"I can't believe it, miss perfect priestess of healing is sick." Ranma snickered.

Kikori groaned and weakly gave Ranma a glare, "I have a headache, so don't bother me."

"Hey!" Ranma grinned, "You should be glad that I'm taking care of you, who knows what Shampoo might pull out to 'cure' you of your cold."

"Anything is better than your bad jokes and even worst insults." Kikori retorted weakly and hid her head underneath her blanket.

Ranma sighed and shook his head, "Kikori, the wet cloth is still on your forehead. You'll only get your blanket wet."

"I dun care." Kikori muttered.

The pigtailed mage sighed again and pulled the blanket down and removed the cloth from the priestess' head, "Ki-chan, I'll bring you dinner when it's done ok? Just sleep and try to get better."

Kikori blushed as Ranma tucks her in, "Thanks Ranma."

Ranma smiled softly and kissed Kikori on her cheek, "Sleep well."

Kikori stared at the ceiling for a whole minute before blinking and realize something is wrong.

"Did Ranma just kiss me..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act:1 Chapter:16

The Sick, The Idiotic, and The Perverted... don't ask...

****

Did I just kiss Kikori... Ranma stopped in mid stride as he was about to reach the kitchen, **What the HELL did I just do that?**

"Hey Ranma!"

"AH!" Ranma jumped and turned around gripping at his chest, "SHAMPOO! Will you QUIT doing THAT!"

The Amazon grinned, "But it's so fun seeing you jump so high! And that expression!"

Ranma's eyes twitched irritably, "Right... Anyways, can ya help me in the kitchen for a bit, I need ta cook somethin for Kikori ta eat."

The Amazon nodded, "No problem."

***********************************************************************

Kikori continues to stare at the ceiling as one question continues to haunt her mind, **WHAT WAS RANMA DOING KISSING ME LIKE THAT!**

Knock Knock

"Who is it." Kikori groaned as she attempts to push herself to a sitting position.

"Just me, Ranma. I'm coming in to bring ya somethin ta eat." The door swings open revealing Ranma wearing an apron and holding a tray of food for the sick priestess.

Kikori held back her laughter, "Nice apron Ranma."

Ranma growled, "Stupid Shampoo... force me to wear one as a girl and then dumps hot water on me."

"Let Shampoo have her fun." Kikori replied as she tries to take the tray away from Ranma, who wards her away. "Hey!"

"It's heavy, I don't think ya can lift it by yourself." Ranma warned, "Don't worry, I won't be feedin' ya too."

Kikori laughed softly, "I'm not THAT sick Ranma, just a little dizzy and minor coughing. You're treating me like I'm having a bad case of the flu."

Ranma scratches his head sheepishly, "Well, they say the first time ya sick is the worst time, and this is the first time I've seen ya sick..."

Kikori picks up a spoon from the tray and slowly sips from the bowl of soup, "Well, this ISN'T my first time sick, believe it or not, I just take care of my body."

Ranma snorted, "And I don't?"

"Of course you don't," Kikori answered matter of factly, "The way you keep on insulting every girl and guy you meet is a sure sign that your asking for a beating, and therefore, you don't take care of your body."

Ranma blinked, "Wha..."

"Oh nevermind." Kikori huffed and continue to eat her dinner.

Ranma grinned, "Don't spill anything, I really don't wanna clean up ya mess for ya."

Kikori glared and the retreating spirit mage, "I'll show you spilling."

Ranma laughed as the Priestess throws a spoonful of rice at him and quickly closes the door behind him, "I am NOT cleaning that up Kikori!"

"Hmph," Kikori huffed with a slight smile, "and if you don't, I won't be cleaning up YOUR mess the next time."

"Aww... Kikori!" Ranma whined, "I'm just playin' around!"

***********************************************************************

" 'ello." Ranma said into the receiver right after he picked it up.

"Ranma, its Landal."

"Yo Lan-chan." Ranma said grinning madly knowing that he is annoying the prankster spirit mage.

"I wouldn't be saying that mister aqua-transsexual mage." Landal retorted.

Ranma growled and muttered to himself and slammed the phone back to its place.

RING RING

"WHAT!"

"Actually Ranma, if you're not too busy, I have some information that might interest you." Landal said professionally, "You can even say I have some bad news and some good news too!"

Ranma blinked "Oh ok."

"Good news first," Landal started, "something with an intensely unpure aura is headed your way and all the mage tower had a bounty on this person mostly from all the females that petitioned it so you will have something to do for a while that won't get you bored."

"That is GOOD news?" Ranma sweatdropped.

"Well, I guessed that you'd jump at any chance of having some action so..." 

"So what's the bad news?"

"Well, because of that 'intensely unpure aura', most priestess falls ill because that man's aura taints all the other auras, so Kikori might feel extremely ill for the next few while."

Ranma blinked, **So THAT'S why Kikori is sick?**

"Anyway, I'll leave you to fend for yourself and take care of your little girl priestess friend. See you soon."

Ranma twitched as he held on to the receiver, "I hate that man..."

***********************************************************************

Screams and shouts of pervert echoed out through the district of Nerima. To most people, mostly women and teenage girls, these screams are directed to a specific old man who is carrying a large bag full of panties and bras, but to two, these screams are directed to...

"I still don't get why you have to send that blank demon of yours to do all your dirty work."

A small figured laughed at the feminine figure that said it, "Why? So that I can spend my time fondling you AND get plenty of panties and bras!"

The Female figured fumed as the smaller figure suddenly appeared on top of her chest, "Happosai... FRY!"

***********************************************************************

Ranma sighed as he sat at the counter of the 'Mystical Dimension.' "This is SO bor-"

"GIVE US ALL ALL OF YOUR WANDS NOW!"

Ranma fell from his chair as the crowd of obviously angry women and girls crashed into the store.

"ALL of them?"

"YES!"

"Err, that would cost ya..." Ranma laughed nervously as all the women, all of them holding various blunt and sharp and even unheard of weapons, glared at him, "The rest of the wands are in the storage area, I'll get them for ya." Ranma squeaked and quickly dashed for the storage room.

"What was THAT about." Ranma muttered to himself, "I just hope this isn't some way ta get free stuff from our store..."

"WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOW!"

Ryoga suddenly crashed through the wall of the storage room

"I AM GOING TO KILL THAT LITTLE GNOME!"

A portal opened and Zandia and Ukiko dropped out of it.

Ranma blinked, "Ryoga? Angel-sensei?"

The two blinked in unison, "Oh hi Ranma, me and my student only here to pick up some supplies to kill this little Gnome."

Ranma scratched his head, "Err, Sorry sensei, but that would be kinda hard. Ya see, all the girls in town are takin' all the wands and robbing me blind with lotsa weapons."

Zandia blinked, "Oh they must be after that little gnome too. That's ok I guess."

Ukiko, who was hiding behind her teacher, meekly said, "Is the pervert gone?"

"Yes he is." Zandia said soothingly, "Ranma, can you take care of my student for a while, I have a pervert to hunt."

Ranma and Ryoga slowly stepped away from the glowing spirit mage, "S-Sure..."

"Now, to organize my army of angry women." Zandia chuckled evilly and walked out of the storage room leaving a very scared Ranma and a totally confused Ryoga to baby-sit a frightened little girl.

"Err..." Ryoga finally said scratching his head, "This might be a stupid question, but what in the world is going on?"

Ranma shrugged, "As long as it doesn't harm me in anyway, I don't care."

The pigtailed mage sighed and placed his hand on Ukiko's shoulder and gently led the girl upstairs, "Don't worry about a thing, if there is one person on earth that can take down anything, it'll be an angry Angel-sensei."

The girl nodded, "I guess so..."

"So tell me, what happened?" Ranma asked the girl while Ryoga followed the two in case he got lost again.

"Well, we were about to come back here 'cause we ran out of food and stuff and Angel-sensei said that we should leech off Sempai and Kikori for a while before we head out again." Ukiko said innocently.

**Go figure they're coming back to live off us before heading out again** Ranma thought bitterly.

"Then when we got near the shop, this small man," Ukiko raised his hand to her nose, "about that tall jumped out of nowhere and landed right on Sensei's chest!"

Ryoga and Ranma winced and stopped in front of Kikori's room, "No wonder Sensei was so pissed off." Ranma said with a shiver before opening the door.

"Anyways, Sensei casted a spell on that man and blasted him away, but he stood back up again so Sensei casted another spell and another one and another one until she got tired and teleported us here!" Ukiko gasped for breath after she has finished.

Ranma shook his head and sat Ukiko on a stool beside Kikori's desk before checking up on his partner. Ryoga stood at the doorway with his arms crossed and frowning, "So now, Zandia is about ta lead a bunch of mad chicks armed with wands and other magical and non-magical stuff of every kind ta kill the guy?"

Ukiko nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Too bad Kikori is down 'cause of that 'unpure aura' in town, maybe she can cast a banishment spell on that guy and see if he's a demon or not." Ranma said from the side of Kikori's bed replacing the warm towel on top of a sleeping Kikori's forehead with a cool one, "Come ta think of it, I think Elder Cologne said somethin' about a pervert. A demon class Caller or somethin', think this man is the guy Elder was talking about?"

Ryoga shrugged, "Well only one way to find out, let's go."

Ranma nodded, "Ukiko, stay here with Kikori ok, help me take care of her."

"Okay Sempai, I'll take care of your girlfriend."

Ranma's eye twitched, "Sensei told ya ta say that didn't she."

Ukiko nodded her head.

"Why am I surround by people that love ta torture me." Ranma muttered darkly before leading Ryoga out of the store to track down the mob of women chasing the pervert.

***********************************************************************

**You'd think that finding a mob of shouting angry women would be easy...** Ranma thought to himself as he glided across the sky with Ryoga tailing him by jumping on the roofs.

"See anything Ranma?" Ryoga yelled.

"No ye-... nevermind..." Ranma sighed and landed beside the Caller, "I saw them, but there were two others following them."

Ryoga frowned, "Let's go see those two first, maybe they know something about that pervert."

Ranma nodded and once again flew into the sky leading Ryoga towards the two figures trailing the mob of angry women.

**Something is not right...** Ranma landed in the path of the two figure, effectively trapping them between himself and Ryoga, "Who are ya guys?"

The pigtailed mage sweatdropped when he saw the female grinned evilly and continuously stomp on the smaller person, "So who ARE ya two?"

The women, wearing a leather tank-top and short cut-off jeans with spiked bracelet with hair the seem to be flickering flames, stopped stomping on the small man, her slitted brown eyes flickered as if it was a small flame, and grinned at him, "Why should I tell you?"

"Ah, don't be such a prune Frayja," The man said dusting himself off as if nothing happened, "I am Happosai! Demon Caller expert!"

"YOUR Happosai?" Ranma shook his head in disbelieve, "I thought the person with guts ta steal from the Amazons would be a bit taller than ya."

"Yeah, If Ranma didn't tell me that you REALLY are a demon class caller, I'd say that you can't even call a dust bunny by the looks of you." Ryoga added from behind scratching his head, "Heck, you look like you'd be squashed even if a dust bunny landed on you."

Frayja snickered while Happosai fumed, "I'll teach you to insult me you little whelp! Frayja, go burn that little BOY."

"Better than you groping me," Frayja muttered before charging Ranma.

"_RELEASE!_" Ranma thrust his hands forward, throwing a ball of magic towards Frayja slamming into her and pushing her back to where she was originally.

"Oh great... A wind spirit mage." Frayja growled, "You know I can't take on one of those with the limits you gave me Happosai."

"_Arise into the world of the living, seek to guard the ways of the spirit! Cometh SPIRT GOLEM!_" Ryoga yelled spreading his arms wide open. Air above Ryoga swirled into one point and starts to glow. The glow quickly widens opening a gateway.

"Great, a wind spirit mage AND a Caller," Frayja muttered irritably, "I did not sign up for this! So what if I'm a god damned Demon! With these stupid control limits your giving me, I can barely keep up with the golem! Let alone the spirit mage!"

Happosai scratched his chin thoughtfully, "_Blank Demon, Recall_."

The air beside Happosai shimmered and with a pop, a replica of Happosai appeared.

"_Blank Form_." 

The 'Blank demon' blurred and morphed itself so that it is all white without any features.

"Well, now that this is a three on three fight," Happosai smirked, "Let see how you beat me now! Frayja take care of caller boy, Blank demon, dispose of the golem anyway you like, that whelp is mine. Oh yeah, I'll release some limits off you, happy now Frayja?"

The demoness grinned, "Much..."

Ranma gulped, "This is NOT my day..."

***********************************************************************

"Hey, where did that pervert go!"

"Yeah! We still haven't beaten him up yet!"

"I still need to get my bra back! I just brought that one too!"

Zandia frowned as the mob of women begins to grow frustrated at the sudden disappearance of the pervert.

**Magic... Strong magic too... and two weaker sources**

"That way!" Zandia suddenly pointed and starts to dash towards the direction, leading the mob of angry women with her.

***********************************************************************

Ranma hissed as Happosai landed a hit on him, "Eat this freak! _Wind, you are the weapon of DEATH!_"

Ranma flung waves and waves of bladed winds towards the ancient Caller who dodged him effortlessly, "Must say, you are giving me quite a work out my boy."

"I'll give ya MORE than a work out!" Ranma growled, "_SPIRITS OF WIND, STREAM FROM MY HANDS!_" Ranma thrusts his arm out releasing a torrent of air towards Happosai who jumps up trying to dodge the spell. As the air hit the ground below him, it explodes upwards, trapping Happosai within a tight whirlwind. "_Spirits of wind GATHER! RELEASE AND SCATTER!_" 

Endless balls of green magic flies out of Ranma's hand, filling the whirlwind with balls of magic which continuously hit the ancient Caller. "Suck on THAT freak!"

"Why that was really uncalled for."

Ranma gasped and turned around just to receive a punch to the stomach, "Take this! _Spirits of wind, Gather, Release and TRACK!_"

"Too slow my boy." Happosai smirked and dodged the ball of magic, "And a bit on the weak side too."

"What!" Ranma watched as the ball made a U-turn and slammed into Happosai with no ill effect

"Well, enough playing around," The ancient pervert smiled silghtly, "Now you shall face my BATTLE AURA!"

Ranma growled and raised his hand to throw another spell at his opponent but froze mid-way, **I... I can't move... How did he turn so BIG!**

WHAM!

Ranma fell to his back and struggled to pull himself back up, "Damnit!"

Ranma looked around to see Ryoga standing ways away burnt heavily by the Fire demoness. The spirit golem, who is fairing much better than the two humans, slowly losing to a copy of itself. "DAMNIT!"

"So what are you going to do now whelp?"

Ranma growled, "This!"

***********************************************************************

Ryoga groaned as another wave of hot air slammed into his already sensitive skin, "I did NOT become a Caller to have a demon beat on me like this."

Frayja smirked, "And here I am, not even in my battle attire yet, and you, complaining about me being too hard to beat? What kinda Caller ARE you."

The fanged Caller snarled, "The Golem kind."

The demoness smirked as Ryoga throws a barrage of his bandanna's at her, "You HAVE to learn not to use flammable stuff on beings like me you know." Her eyes, previously brown, turn bright red. The bandannas all burst into flame and reversed their route heading right back at Ryoga.

"ERK!"

Ryoga throws himself aside, desperately dodging his own flaming bandannas.

**This ISN'T good! If I summon another golem, my spirit golem won't have enough power to hold off the blank demon, but at this rate, I'll be a roast beef in no time!**

"So little boy, now that you're playing with the big people, how do you feel?" Frayja taunted as she juggles five mini fireballs casually.

"Peachy." Ryoga muttered as he stood back up, wincing as his clothes touched some of his many burns.

"_PRINCESS OF ICE! GODDESS OF COLD! COMETH!_"

Ryoga gasped and turned towards Ranma to see a circle of ice next to him forming, "Oh, NOW he summons Artricia."

Frayja snarled as she sees Artricia rise quickly out of the circle of ice, "Artricia..."

***********************************************************************

"You know, I was having a nice dream when you called me!" The ice princess sighed, "You owe me big time Mister!"

Ranma ignored her and stood himself up, "'Tricia, can ya help me and Ryoga in this fight a little? I think we're a little out matched."

Artricia frowned and turned around, "Frayja... It's been a while."

"Never knew you fancied human lovers Artricia," Frayja growled, "Never thought you like younger men."

The ice princess growled, "Well at least I have better taste than you! Bonding with a old WRINKLY pervert I see."

"Hmph, at least I have a decent Caller PEDOPHLILE!"

Artricia fumed, "SLUT!"

"WHORE!"

"BITCH!"

"YOU IGNORENT GOD!"

"YOU FILTHY DEMON!"

Ranma and Ryoga sweatdropped completely forgetting the fight, Happosai lost all his concentration and starts to jump up and down excitedly, "WOO HOO! CAT FIGHT!"

"SHUT UP YOU FREAK!"

"SHUT UP YOU FREAK!"

The two called beings shot an unnecessarily large ball of magic at Happosai, blasting him into the ground.

Frayja smirked, "I'll beat you back to where ever you came from and then drag you to Huren's* front door as a gift!"

Flames swirled around Frayja covering her for a mere moment. Instantly, her clothing is replaced with a chest plate, her jeans has turned into a long denim skirt reaching her knees with a slit that reached her upper thighs. Her boots as been replaced with a slipper with iron legging. Her bracelet turned into an arm guard that sported a wicked looking blade on the side.

Artricia frowned and looked at her mode of dress, a sky blue bikini and a long dress, "Ranma, release my lock."

The spirit mage blinked, "But that would..."

"DO IT!"

Ranma flinched at the coldness of his otherworldly partner's voice, "_Locks of magical bind, unlock._"

A rush of cold air blew towards the goddess of cold, her slitted eyes turned solid blue, and her usually pale skin turned pure white. Instead of her bikini and dress, she now has a plate mail with a large Claymore sword, made of ice, strapped to her back, her legs are left seemingly unprotected, but if you look closely, you'll see a transparent layer of ice that acts as legging.

"The fire demon is mine," Artricia said coldly, "Do whatever you like with the others."

Ranma nodded, "Ryoga, you should help ya golem. That pervert is mine."

Ryoga blinked and muttered to himself, "What's with Ranma and personal fights, they always seem to end that way doesn't it?"

Happosai, who has completely recovered from the blast the two summoned beings, climbed back up the crater created by the blast, "So, I see you're a talent. I swear the gods are out to get me."

Ranma smirked, "Well, ya know, with the stuff ya do, I won't be surprised freak."

Happosai nodded towards Ryoga, "Pretty confident that you'll win this little fight aren't you boy?"

"Ranma Saotome don't LOSE!" Ranma yelled as he punched into the air in front of him. "_I call upon the breath of a demon!_"

Happosai's eyes widened, "Saoto- OOF!"

"_Wind give me thy blessings!_" Ranma rushed towards the surprised and off balanced Demon caller and unleashed punches and kicks which is quickly followed by a close ranged attack of his ball of magic, knocking Happosai into a wall.

"So, your Genma's boy..." Happosai whispered to himself, "Why is he a mage then?"

"Give up?" Ranma smirked, "Or are ya restin' so ya can keep up wit me?"

"Definitely Genma's boy," Happosai muttered before proclaiming loudly, "Oh on, I'm just letting you rest so I may actually have a little bit of fun before I leave you knocked out on the cold hard concrete ground."

Ranma growled, "_I call upon the breath of the demon!_" 

Happosai shook his head and charged forward towards the incoming needles of air weaving between them with ease and stopped in front of Ranma, "You'll need to do much better than THAT whelp!"

Ranma immediately throws a punching combo at Happosai who skillfully blocks all of them and takes out his pipe to knock Ranma down to his knees and hands planted on the ground.

"_Powers of uninhibited winds, thy powers are at my call. Come to me oh winds of destruction, show the unworthy thy power._" Ranma whispered. Air picked up quickly around Ranma and green beams of magic shot up from the ground hitting Happosai everywhere he dodged, "_UNLEASHED POWER!_" Ranma's eye's glows bright white, the beam narrows making each of them like needles ripping through the Demon caller.

The wind died down quickly leaving an exhausted Ranma, "No one can stand up after THAT!"

"I wouldn't bet on that my boy."

"Shit..."

*Note: Huren is the Demon of Wind. He has become attracted to Artricia during one of the battles that took place in their realm. After seeing her fight, Huren has made it his 'quest' to get Artricia in the sack. But he won't be making a appearance in my fic anytime soon.

***********************************************************************

Artricia drew her Claymore sword and held it in front of her in guard position staring at her opponent how held her hands up like a boxer would, with the blades on her arm guard facing the ice princess.

"Your move Frayja."

The fire demon smirked and blurred, leaving a streak of red as prove that she didn't teleport right beside Artricia and quickly attacked her with the blades on her arm guard.

Artricia's visage remains expressionless as she systematically blocks all the strikes made by her opponent and counter attacking on rare occasions with quick slashes, pushing Frayja back.

"You've improved Artricia, you're faster than I remember."

"And you're still as reckless and fast as I remember you." Artricia replied switching her stance so that her two handed sword is pointed towards her side with her right leg in front of her, "I believe it's my move now?"

Without waiting for a reply, Artricia dashed forward, slower than her counterpart, but still at impressive speed. At the last moment, she jumps into the air and makes a somersault and slashing at Frayja's head, who blocks it at ease with her arm guard. Quickly turning around, Artricia quickly unleashed a powerful slash upward knocking Frayja back as she blocked, once again, with her arm guards. 

Seeing her opponent disoriented, Artricia quickly followed her attack with quick slashes towards her less protected thighs. Seeing this, Frayja jumped up into the air above her opponent and fired a stream of fire onto the goddess's head. The stream of fire was deflected to the side by the Claymore sword.

Once again, the two summoned beings faced each other, each in their own guard position.

"Looks like your little boyfriend is going to lose." Frayja smirked as she took a glance at the battle between Ranma and Happosai, "Seems like I'll win this one Artricia."

A frown appeared on Artricia's calm face, "Well, then I'll just have to finish you off before I fade out then."

With a yell, Artricia dashed forward with her sword pointed towards the demon, leaving a trail of ice, and thrusted it towards the Frayja who dodged to the side but quickly found herself hit at the neck by her opponent's arm.

The Claymore sword clattered on the ground right before Frayja landed with a loud clack, seconds after Frayja landed, Artricia mounted Frayja with a ball of cold magic right in front of the fire demon's face.

"Good match, see you the next century."

The Fire Demoness quickly froze with a shocked expression on her face. Few moments later, her form faded into nothing leaving a block of ice behind.

Artricia groaned as she felt herself being pulled back to her realm, "Ranma..."

***********************************************************************

Ryoga snarled as he tripped the blank demon, which has taken his golem's form, with a powerful leg sweep.

"Golem, smash him in!" Ryoga barked and sat back and watched with satisfaction as his spirit golem continuously punched his copy, "Finish it off!"

With a low roar, the spirit golem grabbed its copy and throws it up into the air, and punched it with a haymaker when it was right on top of it.

"Good work golem." Ryoga said with a smirk, "Wasn't that tough with me around huh?"

The golem grunted in reply.

"Don't go back yet golem, let see how Ranma's doing first." Ryoga said causally and turned around to see Ranma using his third most powerful spell, "Well seem like we won this one."

"NO one, can stand up after that."

Ryoga nodded dumbly having witnessed that spell in full power.

"I wouldn't bet on it my boy."

Ryoga gasped **What is that thing!**

"Well time to finish you off isn't it?" Happosai begins to flare up his battle aura, "Feel my AURA!"

Ryoga froze as he saw a giant version of Happosai suddenly appear and beat Ranma savagely with a hook punch.

"S-Stop that!" Ryoga managed to shout as he slowly regained some of his motor control.

"Ah so your still strong enough to fight huh?" Happosai chuckled and looked up into the sky, "Still plenty of daylight left, I think I'll take my time with you."

Ryoga clenched his fist and readied himself for the fight of his life.

"We're not done yet..."

The old pervert blinked and turned to see Ranma holding out his palm, pointing at him with a ball of white energy, "_RELEASE!_"

Happosai snorted and dodged the blast easily, "That was a waste of-"

BOOM!

"WHOA!" 

**That... that kid... he bypassed the element filter of the spirit mage, he manage to wield pure foreign spirit!**

"HAPPOSAI!"

"Tch," the said pervert sighed, "Well, I'll play with you boys again later, can't have those crazy amazons catch me after all... Ta Ta."

"Stop!" Ryoga yelled weakly as he strength finally gave way and he collapsed.

"Now where is my heir and why is Ranma fighting with the Caller and not his partner." Cologne muttered to herself as she used her abilities to levitate the two fallen mages, "He got away again..."

***********************************************************************

**Hehe, that old mummy of an Amazon will never catch me!** Happosai thought with glee as he made his escape, **Til next time Ranma Saotome, til next time.**

"HEY! It's the pervert we're looking for!"

"Oh yeah! GET HIM!"

"WANDS! AIM! FIRE!"

If there is one thing in the world that is unstoppable, it's a mob of enraged women from Nerima with enough magical wands to demolish a small country...

***********************************************************************

Ranma groaned as he opened his eyes, "Wha happen?"

"You fainted because you over excreted yourself."

"Kikori?"

Said priestess frowned at her partner, "Taking on a demon class caller with only you and Ryoga, you must be crazy!"

Ranma grinned, "Yep, that's me!"

Kikori huffed and glared at Ranma, "You were out for a whole day!"

"So? Did we win?"

"As far as I know, Happosai got away." Kikori answered and laid her hand on top of Ranma's chest, "But from what Zandia said, the mob of women knocked him around a lot. He should be in the hospital for at least a week!"

Knock Knock

"Come in." The two teens said in unison.

"Well what do we have here," Cologne said after entering the room, "Having a heart to heart talk? Or am I interrupting something more hmmm?"

"Just talkin' about what happened, s'all." Ranma said and turned his head to hide his blush.

"I see..." Cologne said subdued, "Well, if it's any consolation, you did extremely well in stalling a demon class Caller. To tell the truth, I expected you to not last as long as you did without Kikori's help."

"Wow, thanks for ya vote of confidence." Ranma said wirly, "Say, where's Shamps?"

"It's XIAN PU!"

Ranma sweatdropped, "Guess she's here too huh?"

Shampoo huffed as she entered the room, "I'm sorry to not been there."

Ranma gave the young Amazon a shrug, "It doesn't matter, he'd just grope ya or somethin'." Ranma frowned, "Come ta think of it, I'm surprised my curse didn't act up and turn me inta a girl when I fought him."

"Just thank the gods for small miracles." Cologne said with mirth, "Anyways, Happosai has escaped the hospital and is out wandering again, I guess I'll be tracking him down again."

Ranma's eyes twitched, "He was zapped be every wand in our storage and he is out of the hospital in ONE DAY!"

"He has a VERY high recovery rate." Cologne said with a sigh, "He probably gets in from groping Demonesses or something of the like."

"Ok, I think Ranma needs some air," Kikori said professionally, "if you don't mind, Elder, Shampoo, can you please go to the living room and entertain Ukiko please."

"Oohh... come to think of it, I have this REALLY cute dress for Ukiko to wear!" Shampoo said happily and hopped out of the room.

"I am almost ashamed of my heir's antics..." Cologne sighed, "Oh well, I guess I pushed her too hard as a child and now she's catching up on her childhood since she has free time."

Kikori giggled after Cologne exited the door.

"Well Kikori?" Ranma said expectedly, "Ya have somethin' ta say?"

The Priestess nodded, "Tricia is hiding herself at the back."

"Right... I'll go get her."

Ranma pushed himself out of bed and quickly slipped out back with Kikori close behind him.

***********************************************************************

"I see you're better now."

Ranma winced at the cold voice Artricia uses now, "Yeah... thanks Tricia."

The goddess of ice stared at Ranma with her pupil-less eyes, "Ranma, I just want you to know, I never regretted coming along with you. I just hope that... that..."

Kikori blinked, "I'll be inside and give you two some privacy."

Ranma nodded his thanks and watched Kikori go back in, "Thanks again Tricia. _Locks of Magical bi-_"

"Ranma stop."

The pigtailed mage stopped in mid-chant and blinked in confusion.

"Mas- Ranma... I... never... thanked you." Artricia stuttered, "I..."

Ranma chuckled, "Tricia, if it wasn't for ya, I woulda done somethin' really stupid in Tibet. It's the least I can do."

Ranma took in a breath to start his spell again when a finger pressed against his lips and stopped him.

"Ranma, Master...." Artricia said with a sigh.

The pigtailed mage licked his lips and swallowed, "_Locks of Magical bind! Lock away her powers once more!_"

Artricia smiled sadly as the spell surround her, locking her powers away.

"WOW! You shoulda seen me Ranma! I KICK HER FIREY DEMON BUTT!" Artricia said happily, "Anyway, I'm feeling tired now, I'm going to go home 'kay? Bye!"

Ranma watched as the princess of cold disappeared back to her realm, "That's two down, one left..."

***********************************************************************

"...Then WHAM! Man what a punch I hit him with!" Ranma laughed, "If he wasn't like a god damned cockroach, he woulda been a SMIRE on the pavement!"

"Yes, that would explain why you were laying on the ground, bloody, bruised, and unconscious when Elder found you." Kikori said tiredly.

"Aww, come on Kikori. Ya haveta believe me!" Ranma whined, "I really had him then! I even nailed him with one of my big four!"

Kikori hid a smile, "Yes, that would ALSO explain why he was still standing after he hit him with an unlimited big four."

"But he just WON'T lose!" Ranma huffed, "It's like trying ta kill a cockroaches!"

"Well, I guess a bunch of untrained, girls with low level magical wands did better than you." Kikori continued to tease.

"KIKORI~I!" Ranma said in a whiny tone, "Don't be so mean!"

Kikori raised a cup of cold water and splashed Ranma with it, "Please Ranma, whining while you're a guy. It's unbecoming."

Ranma pouted cutely and gave Kikori a puppy face.

"You know that doesn't work." Kikori said professionally as she continues to prepare dinner, "Now if you want to have dinner, go away and bother Shampoo with your exploits."

Ranma grinned, "That's RIGHT! THEY SHAMPS!"

"FOR THE LAST TIME! IT'S XIAN PU!"

"Aww come on Shamps!"

***********************************************************************

I'm starting to think my muse is playing a elaborate trick on me. At 3 AM, last night, or morning... whatever... I wake up with a sudden idea that hit me. So I woke up, walked to my computer and tried to type. But when I sat down, typed a few scenes... I got stuck. So I tried to go back to sleep. But being devious and all that, I get struck with another idea, So I walked to my computer, and started typing again.

This continued up until 9 o'clock when I have a class...

All this after abandoning me for so long...

Muse... Do you hate me that much?

Anyways, Seeing I introduced so much new stuff in this chapter, I think I should explain a stuff that you should be curious about.

****

OMAKE Let Saiko Explain it all! **Omake**

Ahem!

Saiko cleared her throat and took out some Q cards from one of the pockets on her cargo pants, "Hi, Since my brother is too lazy to explain all this stuff, and Kikori said something about keeping him company, I'm here to explain to you the workings of SPIRIT MAGIC~! ic.. ic... ic... ic..."

"Where did that echo come from?" Saiko scratched her head, "Anyways, spirit magic is actually a filtered form of pure FOREIGN spirits."

"Now you might be wondering, isn't that chi? Or ki? That is not true! In fact, Chi or Ki is LIFE energy, which is totally different from SPIRIT energy. Obviously, if you use spirit energy that you yourself have, then you'll be throwing your own soul at your enemy, effectively killing yourself."

Saiko steps to one side and takes out a controller out of her shirt pocket and pressed a button, "HEY! This projector doesn't work!"

"SORRY SAIKO, FORGOT TO FIX IT. RYOGA ACCIDENTLY SMASHED IT AGAIN WHEN RANMA GOT HIM MAD."

"Anyway..." Saiko said with a sweatdrop on her head, "When you're using spirit magic, your drawing spirits from the magic 'lines' of earth which contains the spirits of the departed. But having a foreign spirit going through your body is pretty messy! If your not careful, you might accidentally knock out your own spirit and killing yourslef!"

Saiko frowned and looked at her Q cards again, "what does this... lets see... that's that... so... OOH."

"Okay! Each person's soul is close to one of the few elements of spirit realm, Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth, are the four most common ones. Depending on which element your most compatible with, you can use your own spirit to filter out the energies from the foreign spirit and use that as your weapon!"

Saiko adopted a very serious expression, "What Ranma did in this chapter is REALLY dangerous! Channeling Raw spirits without filtering can kill him easily! So don't try it at home!"

"Remember! Safety first when you use magic!" Saiko winked and waves goodbye, "See you later~!"

****

Omake End **Omake**

Heres something extra just cuz my muse haven't abandoned me yet and I have this strange urge to write -,-

****

Omake2! Artricia **Omake2!**

This isn't really a Omake... just an explanation on what the HELL Ranma was talking about when he locked away Artricia's power. Being a Talent, Ranma can't really be that good of a caller if he is in direct control of his creatures, mostly because he needs to control his own magic, and that takes concentration.

So he made a deal with Artricia!

Artricia, according to text, is very frigid, even if she doesn't want to be. The more cold she acts, the more power she can wield. So Ranma decided that if Artricia will be willing to have her powers locked away so that she doesn't make too big of a mess when she fights, Ranma will summon her when he needs to and then some and she will have free will whenever he summons her.

Now how is that beneficial to Artricia?

Well, being a Being of another realm, she can't really go to Ranma's realm. And being cooped up in one place is really boring, no matter HOW frigid you are. So being summoned is already a plus. Most summoned beings only have partial will. If the caller doesn't command the creature or being, they WILL have free reign, but once commanded, they will be compelled to do what they are told. BUT if they make a move before the caller makes his/her first command, they would be send back, which is bad for them.

Artricia has total free will, so Ranma don't need to waste concentration on her to command her, or even concentrate on keeping Artricia in his own plane.

About the two down one left bit? Well, Seals that can seal away a goddesses power must be powerful right? Well guess what? Ranma can only seal it away one more time before Artricia can only be summoned with Ranma's full concentration! *GASP!!*

Now about Artricia call Ranma master... Well... that's for later ^^

Thanks for reading~~

****

Omake2! End **Omake2!**

Well... again... thanks for reading ^^ leave reviews or email me about comments or other things you think I can improve on if you want ^^ 

Sorry for being so late to update... I blame my muse ^^;;;


	17. Chapter 17

Ranma yawned at the counter of the 'Mystical Dimension' as another slow and boring day slowly passes by.

**And it's not even afternoon yet!**

"Please, something happen!" Ranma groaned and banged his forehead against the counter, "Ryoga, Zandia-sensei, some weird anti-tower cult, ANYTHING!"

Shampoo and Kikori sweatdropped as they restocked the shelves with more wands and other magical items.

"Be careful what you wish from Ranma." Shampoo said as she placed more packets of wands on the shelf, "You might get something that's worst than what you ask for."

Kikori giggled, "Oh we get that all the time Shampoo. Remember that time in Sydney Ranma? You were begging to go on a mission near the beach just few months back during one of the missions in France. When we got there two weeks after, we where attacked by mutant sharks that can walk on land!"

"Yeah yeah," Ranma said dejectedly, but grinned nevertheless, "I still remember who has her FAVORITE robe turn into a bikini."

Kikori blushed and glared at her partner, "And I remember who managed to SOMEHOW insult the king of these mutant sharks and seduced the queen?"

Shampoo laughed as the two continue to fire embarrassing events that happened to them during their missions, "This is more entertainment that Television!"

DING DING

"OH MY GOD!" Ranma gasped, "It's a CUSTOMER!"

The couple who entered sweatdropped, "Umm..."

"Ignore him," Kikori said with a slight smile and a sweatdrop behind her head, "He's just really bored today."

The couple just laughed nervously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act:1 Chapter 17

Little bag of horrors...

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Kikori asked politely as the couple wandered the store.

"Hey what's this?" The girl asked pointing towards a stone.

"Those are the vid stones," Kikori answered, "Did you see the match between our cashier and that girl over there? Well those stones are used to record and project their match."

The guy nodded, "Oh yeah, I think I'll take few of them. Who knows when I'll need it to check up some people."

The girl blinked, "Hiroshi! You're a pervert."

Hiroshi grinned and grabbed the girls behind, "Well, I don't mind seeing you change Yuki."

Kikori sweatdropped as the couple begin to be more 'active', "Umm... can you please refrain from any kinda of sexual activities in our store. This IS a family store you know."

The couple grinned, "So what's that then?" Hiroshi pointed towards some wands.

"Those are the wands of random surprises." Kikori said, "If you use them, they make different things appear at random every time."

Yuki blushed, "What are the chances of a *mumble* appearing?"

Hiroshi grinned, "Why don't you say so, I'll get one for you."

Kikori sighed.

**It's one of THOSE days...**

***********************************************************************

Shampoo scratched her head in confusion, "I don't get it."  


"What's that Shamps?"

"It's XIAN PU!" The amazon glared at the offending mage, "I don't get why people would chase that old man, I mean they're perverts themselves."

Ranma snickered, "I have no idea Shamps, no idea."

Shampoo whipped out her Bonbori and used it to hit Ranma across his head, "Stupid male."

***********************************************************************

"Well, that's because this bag can hold any amount of objects of any size." Kikori said as she explained to the couple why a normal looking duffel bag is so expensive.

"Any size?" Hiroshi grinned.

"Hmm, any size..." Yuki said thoughtfully, "Do you mind if we try this?"

Kikori blinked, "Sure I guess, but I won't put anything that is alive in there or enter there yourselves, it would be very... huh?"

The priestess looked around only to find the bag on the floor without the two perverted couple.

Kikori sighed and sat herself on the floor, "It's one of those days..."

***********************************************************************

"They what?" Ranma said with a glint in his eyes.

"Aiya, pervert couple is SO stupid." Shampoo said with a grin.

"This WOULD look bad if two customers suddenly disappear after they walked into our store." Kikori said tiredly.

"Well there is only one thing to do!" Ranma said solemnly before grinning cheerfully, "LET'S GO RESCUE THEM!"

"I love the way you think Ranma." Shampoo said with a feral grin, "I was getting SO bored today."

The priestess can only whimper, "Why can't we have a quiet month for a change. I thought you needed a vacation Ranma."

Ranma blinked, "Ya right. Why am I riskin' ma life ta rescue two people that are completely innocent but gotten their lives in danger 'cause they didn't listen ta you?"

Kikori sighed, "Oh all right, go in yourself. I am NOT going to go in there and rescue you if you're in trouble."

Before Kikori can say another word, Ranma and Shampoo has already tied a piece of rope to their waste and one to a support beam in their shop, "Well if we need to get back out, we'll pull the rope." 

Kikori only saw the two bored mages jumping into the bag.

"Great, now what am I suppose to do?"

***********************************************************************

"Wow, it's dark." Shampoo muttered.

"No really?" Ranma answered sarcastically, "Well actually, it can be bright, ya just havta imagine it."

The mind mage shrugged and imagined a lantern.

"There ya go!" Ranma said with a grin as he imagined a flashlight, "But why use a lantern when ya can have a flashlight?"

Shampoo blinked, "Why can we do this?"

"Well ya see, this bag is linked to what is called an 'empty universe*'," Ranma explained, "So here we are."

"So anything we imagine will appear?" Shampoo said with a grin, "this might be fun!"

"Just a word of warning Shamps," Ranma said seriously, "Even stray thoughts will become reality."

Shampoo blinked and looked at Ranma, **Wow, never seen him so serious before... he looks good that way... I wonder what he will be like naked...**

Ranma twitched as he felt a breeze, "Shampoo, can you PLEASE try to not undress me."

Shampoo blinked and blushed, "Aiya, so sorry!"

Ranma muttered irritably, "Stupid amazon, see how she likes to be naked in the middle of no where."

"STUPID MALE!"

WHAM

"OW!" Ranma clutched his head, "What did ya do THAT FOR!"

"You pictured me NAKED!"

"Shit..." Ranma muttered, "Ok Shampoo, lets get dressed and stop thinking about stuff until we find those two ok? How knows what the hell they thought up in this place."

"Well, it is dark, maybe the girl might get scared and imagine some kind of monster?" Shampoo supplied.

Ranma froze, "You did not just say that..."

"Say what?"

Ranma sighed as a warm stream of air blew across his head he turned around to see two red eyes staring at him, "Now might be a good time to run from your own monsters Shamps."

The amazon grinned sheepishly as the two ran, "Sorry."

The spirit mage growled, "You better be!"

*Note: Empty universes are basically a very large space that can be molded very easily. Anything that can think and go in there will be able to make anything appear or happen in there. Of course, despite its name, it's not really a universe, just a very large space where you can make anything you like appear.

***********************************************************************

Kikori sat beside the bag as she watched to rope slowly being pulled into the bag, "Hmm, I wonder what will happen if they run out of rope?"

As if on Que, the rope runs taut.

"I hope nothing bad will happen."

***********************************************************************

"OOF!" The two was suddenly jolted to a stop and collapsed to the ground with their wind knocked out of them.

"Umm, I think we're in trouble." Ranma muttered and stood up readying himself for a fight, "Whatever Shampoo imagine as a monster must be really bad, I mean she IS an Amazon."

"Sh-shampoo don't think she can fight this." The amazon said, reverting back to broken and bad speech.

"Wha- what is so bad about this monster?" Ranma said swallowing nervously, "Umm, Shamps, what is it?"

"Its... its..." Shampoo closed her eyes, "No, I can't say!"

THUMP... THUMP

"Shampoo..." Ranma said nervously.

"It's... It's a GIANT RABBIT!" Shampoo said suddenly and laughed out loud. The rabbit jumped towards the Amazon and nuzzled her.

"A giant rabbit?" Ranma said, eyes twitching, "This is NOT a time for practical jokes you know."

Shampoo grinned, "You should have seen the look on your face!"

"Why am I cursed to know people that like to make my life hell?" Ranma asked to no one in particular.

Suddenly, the area around Ranma starts to heat up and flames shot out of the ground.

"Oh I'm in heaven." Ranma said wiry, the flame immediately disappears and clouds appear beneath the two mages and angels flew overhead, "I can get to like this."

Shampoo blinked, "I thought we're not suppose to fool around Ranma."

"Oh yeah!" Ranma planted his right fist into the palm of his lift hand, "I forgot about them!"

Shampoo face-faulted.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"What was that!" Ranma said, "You're not making another practical joke are you?"

Shampoo shook her head in denial, "It's not me this time!"

"So that would mean..."

The two mages gasped, "They're in trouble!"  


***********************************************************************

"Hey Kikori." 

The priestess turned her head to see the two youngest Tendo Sisters entering the store, "Welcome to the Mystical Dimension, how may I help you?"

Akane just grinned, "Oh, now that Kuno is back, I wanted to buy more of those shock wands so that I can deal with him when I'm tired."

Kikori nodded in understanding, "You know where they are. Oh you might want to try our new flame wands, it's suppose to set anything on fire as long as it's not alive."

Akane nodded and headed towards the wands.

"So, why are you sitting on the round watching that bag?" Nabiki asked in all curiosity, "I mean this job can't be THAT boring."

"Oh, you see, two of our customers wanted to see how big the bag really is and decided to jump into the bag," Kikori said with a sigh, "But since the bag has infinite space, they can't really get back out unless their tied to this world somehow. So Ranma and Shampoo decided to go in and rescue the two."

The middle Tendo blinked, "Interesting..."

"Not really," Kikori replied, "I'm starting to regret letting those two go."

"Why?" Nabiki asked and sat herself beside the priestess.

"I'm getting bored waiting for them to pull the rope so I can pull them out." Kikori said matter of factly.

"Why are you two staring at that bag?" Akane said as she joined the two girls in the wait.

"Ranma and Shampoo went in there to rescue two of our customers, I'm waiting for their signal so I can pull them out." Kikori answered again.

"Oh." Akane blinked and joined the two, "So when do you think they'll be back?"

"Oh I don't know," Kikori said with a shrug, "They've only been in there for about five minutes."

"I just have this great idea." Nabiki suddenly said and stood up.  


"That is?" Akane prompt here sister.

"Wait here."

Akane shrugged and joined Kikori as they once again stared at the bag.

"BETS ON WHEN RANMA AND SHAMPOO WILL GET OUT OF A MAGIC BAG AND RESCUE TWO PEOPLE!"

Akane sighed and shook her head, "Go figure."

Kikori just laughed slightly.

***********************************************************************

"Umm, Ranma, I think we have a SMALL problem." Shampoo said looking backwards.

"If this is another monster joke, I goin' ta KILL ya." Ranma said irritably.

"We're running out of rope."

"Ya kiddin' me right?" Ranma said.

"Nope."

"Well, lets keep moving, the more time we waste," Ranma paused and thought about something, "who knows what they managed to think up."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

The two mages swallowed nervously as another scream echoed around them.

"This is bad..." Shampoo whimpered, "That's the fifth scream. So we have at least five things to deal with."

Ranma nodded, "This is bad..."

THUD!

Ranma turned around to see Shampoo on the floor with her wind knocked out of her again, "I ran out of rope Ranma."

Ranma grinned, "So you still haven't figured it out yet huh?"

The mind mage blinked.

"You can just will the rope to be longer." Ranma said and made his rope longer in his hand, "And you call yourself a mind mage."

Shampoo growled, "Oh yeah! Try this!"

Ranma sputtered as cold water splashed him, "SHAMPOO! I REALLY don't want to be a girl when I fight monsters you know!"

Ranma held his hand out and a steaming kettle appeared on his hands, "Lets just go before-"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"Ok what the hell did they think up?" Ranma said almost afraid to ask, "I thought they are perverts, not horror fiction writers!"

"Well, Tentacle monsters come to mind." Shampoo said and clamped her mouth with her hands immediately

"Have I ever said that I hate you Shampoo." Ranma said suddenly and ran away with Shampoo right behind him.

"I hate myself right now too." Shampoo muttered as slimy tentacles slowly catches up to the two.

***********************************************************************

Ranma dropped on the floor with many pieces of the dead tentacle monster around him, "I... don't... wanna... do that... again."

Shampoo nodded with a full body blush as she tries to wipe away the slime that has gotten on her, "Good thing that monster didn't do anything to me. God I feel violated."

Ranma glared at the girl, "Well, it's your own fault! That monster almost killed me with its tentacles!"

"WELL it's not like you DID anything but STARE as it caught me!" Shampoo yelled, her blush deepened, "Hope you enjoyed the show..." Shampoo muttered dejectedly.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"I think we're close..." Ranma said as the ear-piercing scream echoed louder than it did.

"I have a question Ranma." Shampoo said, still blushing badly, "Why didn't we just make a portal that lead to those two?"

Ranma blinked, "You mean we went through all that just because the two of us don't watch enough TV?"

Shampoo blinked and absently wipes away some more slime from her hair, "Actually I thought about it, but stuff just happened and I forgot."

Ranma hit himself on the head, "Well, I'm just glad I didn't change into a girl when it came."

"Don't remind me." Shampoo growled, "Unless you want to try fighting off it by yourself!"

"I helped!" Ranma said defensively.

"Yes, after watching it groping ALL OVER ME!" Shampoo growled and her aura bursts to life.

"The couple! We have to help the couple!" Ranma yelled quickly.

"You live until we get out of here MALE!"

Ranma grinned nervously and started to walk towards the scream.

The two mages walked cautiously towards the source of the scream. The darkness slowly lightens as they get closer. Loud thumping noise in quick repetition as if a giant running around. The ground shook more violently as they two drew closer. Mist seems to surround the two suddenly.

"Shampoo, do you sense anything?"

The mind mage closed her eyes, "No, this place is too empty, thoughts can't travel that well without a medium, like sound."

Ranma nodded and peered into the mist, "I think there's a door over there, I'll go check it out."

"Be careful Ranma." 

Ranma grinned cockily, "Of course."  


The spirit mage jogged up to the door and pressed his ears on it.

**Can't hear anything... I have go look inside...**

Ranma carefully opened the door and peered inside only to close it quickly and run away from it.

Shampoo gasped as she saw Ranma run towards her, "Ranma! What is it! What's wrong!"

"Let's just say when we heard the scream, it's not a scream of terror..." Ranma replied.

Shampoo blinked and blushed herself, "Ooh."

"So do we wait for them to finish?" Ranma said as the sat himself on the ground and leaned on the wall.

"Well, they already did it six times already," Shampoo said.

"Right..." Ranma sighed, "She just HAS to be a screamer doesn't she?"

WHAM!

"Pervert Male." Shampoo said after hitting Ranma in the face with her Bonbori.

***********************************************************************

"Sorry about that, we got kinda carried away." Hiroshi said embarrassed.

"Well I guess we'll take this bag." Yuki said with a bright blush.

Ranma sighed as he trailed behind Shampoo and the couple, "Sorry, you've contaminated the bag, we have to 'unmake' it or we'll have a problem on our hands later."

"Aw man." Hiroshi said snapping his fingers.

"Hiro!"

"Sorry Yuki..."

The two mages sighed once again, "Hey Shamps, you get those two out of here, I'll follow close by. I have to check something first."

"Sure," Shampoo replied with a nodded, "And my NAME is XIAN PU!"

Ranma grinned, "Yeah whatever Shamps."

Ranma sat on the ground as he watched Shampoo and the couple leap through a bright hole that closed up right after they leaped out.

Taking in a deep breath, Ranma closed his eyes. The ground around is slowly covered with snow, the darkness is quickly chased away by the snow's light glow. Faint footsteps can be heard slowly closing in on Ranma.

"Brother..."

Ranma opened his eyes and sees his girl form, without the red streaks of hair, wearing a white blouse and tight jeans.

"Saiko..."

Ranma walked slowly towards his sister like a man dying of thirst within a desert walking towards water.

"Big brother... it's been a long time..."

Ranma pulled his sister into a hug, "I missed you Saiko."

"Brother..."

"I'm sorry about everything..." Ranma whispered.

"I forgive you Rammie-oniichan."

Ranma smiled sadly and shook his head, "I just wish I can hear the real you say that."

Everything suddenly disappears leaving Ranma alone in the darkness once again.

"Time to go back to reality." Ranma whispers and pulled his rope.

***********************************************************************

Kikori giggled as she watched Shampoo, from the roofs with Ranma, tear away at the bag, in the back yard, after they closed shop.

"What happened in there that you need to rip that bag apart like a rabid animal?" Kikori asked.

Shampoo's eyes twitched, "Ask Ranma, He seemed to have enjoyed it!"

Kikori gave Ranma a questioning look, "HEY! Don't look at me like that! Plus, it's not MY fault!"  


"Oh and not helping me and watching as that tentacle monster tear at my clothes is NOT YOUR FAULT!" Shampoo yelled then quickly blushed, "I'm going back to my room!"

Kikori watched as the amazon disappeared, "Tentacle monsters?"

Ranma chuckled, "Not my fault Shampoo seem to be able to come up with those stuff. The only thing I thought up where some fire, some angels and some longer rope."

Kikori giggled, "I heard Shampoo said that you managed to strip her too at the beginning."

Ranma blushed, "It's not on purpose! She stripped me first!"

The priestess laughed softly and covered her mouth with her hand.

Ranma frowned, but snickered right after.

"So what did you do after Shampoo came out of that bag?" Kikori asked suddenly after she controlled her laughter.

Ranma gave a sad smile, "Not much... just enjoying the silence..."

Kikori pushed herself so that she's right beside her partner and glared at him, "Don't lie to me Ranma."

Ranma stayed silent for a while before standing up, "I'll tell you some other time."

"Ranma wait." Kikori said grabbing Ranma's hand and pulling him back down, "The sky's suppose to be clear tonight."

Ranma nodded, "If you say so..."

"Say, what's with Nabiki and all the other people when I came out..."

"Nabiki was setting up another betting pool again..."

"Does she ever stop?"

"I don't know... you'll have to ask her."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HA! I updated in just a month! WAHAHA BASK IN MY WORTHINESS! FOR I HAVE UPDATED~! 

My muse is slowly coming back to me!

Well have to make the most of it... better start writing something that is related to the plot soon or my muse will abandon me again 

Actually, I'm pretty sure that the next few chapters will finish up the first act and let me move on to the second act! So HURRAY FOR ME!! I'm actually making some progress! WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

^^;

Anyways, I've came to a realization that... maybe it's not that my muse has abandoned me... maybe it's just that I haven't been thinking a lot about this fic lately that makes me write so little. Oh well... live and learn... *shrug*

Anyway... I give you Omake!

****

OMAKE Shampoo's revenge! **OMAKE**

"CUT! And that's it for today!"

Ranma grinned and wrapped his arms around Kikori, "Wanna go out for dinner tonight?"

"Sorry, can't tonight, promised my parents that I'll eat with them." Kikori said sadly, "I'll make it up to you though."

Ranma grinned after Kikori winked at him and headed towards the changing room. "Man, what a day."

"Hey bro!"

"Hey sis."  


Saiko grinned, "That was the first scene with me and you together isn't it?"

"Actually sis, I think that's the only scene we get to get together..."

"Don't forget tha-" Saiko covered her mouth, "Oops..."

Ranma frowned, "What's wrong?"

"The walls have ears Bro..." Saiko said looking around suspiciously, "and the sky have eyes..."

The two looked around scared, "Yeah... anyways... whatcha want sis?"

"Dad just left us a message saying that they're having their anniversary... We have the house to ourselves for the weekend." Saiko said with a smile.

"Same plan?" Ranma said immediately.

"Yep."

"So I get it on Sunday and ya get it on Saturday?"

"Yep."

Ranma grinned, "I'll see ya later then, I'll pick up dinner when I get back home."

"Great! And no more Chinese!"

"Hey Ranma."

"Shampoo?"

The amazon draped herself on Ranma and gave him a sultry smile, "I'm guessing that your free tonight?"

Ranma swallowed, "Umm... I still have to pick up din-"  


"RANMA!"

"Uh oh..."

"I can't believe your cheating on me!" Kikori sniffled, "I thought... I thought..."

Ranma watched as Kikori ran off the set.

"Shampoo..."

The amazon removed herself and grinned, "Suffer Ranma... Suffer..."

"But what did I do!" Ranma said in total confusion.

"Don't think I don't know who changed the script so that where will be a tentacle monster."

Ranma laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head, "I have to go get Kikori... bye!"

So that is where the tentacle monster came from... blame Ranma! It's not my fault! Honest!

****

OMAKE End~ **OMAKE**

Really... it's not my fault 


	18. Chapter 18

"My prince."

A Man, with his eyes closed, sitting on a throne turned towards a man with a curious looking pair of dog-ears on his head with one knee on the ground and head dipped low, "Speak."

The dog-man raised his head, "Our spies within the Amazons have confirmed the rumors. It seems that the mage tower is being attacked by a lot of the existing groups of people, and some new ones as well."

The man opened his eyes, revealing a slited pupil in the middle of his golden eyes, "Councilor, prophet, come to me."

"We come as you command my prince." Two odd looking men, one with a golden cloak, covering his whole body and hiding his face, another wearing a red robe, with no obvious non-human trait, except for his bear-like claws and round ears on the side of his head, both of which is well hidden.

"Leave us Lint." The man on the throne waved his hand, "We have important matters to attend to. Keep me informed with the movements of the Amazon and the mage tower."

"Your will is my command."

The two old man watched Lint leave before turning towards they're liege again, "Prince Herb, for what reason have you summoned us?"

Herb frowned in thought for a moment, "My father, before he passed away, has told me that his own prophet has seen that I will make a decision; a decision that will either lead the Musk to new heights in power, or one that will lead us to dust. I have called upon the two of you to ask of your insight."

The one with the golden cloak spoke out first, "My predecessor has told me of his vision. My own vision has told me that this is not the time of our choice."

The Councilor spoke next, "This would be an extremely good time to act my Prince. The people are still recovering for the losses from the winter we have just suffered. If you do not act, our Kingdom will suffer even more."

Herb nodded, "We had a bad winter. Our semi-truce with the Amazons is not enough for us to negotiate trade, and our relation with the mage tower is extremely fragile. If we are to help the factions, we will gain more power and land, which will help our kingdom. On the other hand, if we help the tower, we will have a more permanent solution to our problem."

Herb's two advisors nodded in agreement, "What is your command."

"Send for a letter to the mage tower, my father has helped them once, he has also fought them once. The tower knows of our strength, we shall see if we will gain from helping the tower." Herb decided, "You have your command councilor." Herb turned stopped the other man from leaving with a glance, "Prophet, please stay."

"By your leave my Prince." The Councilor walked out of the throne room with this head dipped.

"Prophet, what do you think of us allying ourselves with our enemy?" Herb asked with a frown, "The Amazons has always fought us for our usage of Jusenkyo..."

The Prophet sighed, "From what I have seen, our alliance with mage tower would be very beneficial to both the Musk and the Tower. But my visions tell me to leave this alliance open-ended. In a time before the war between the Amazons and us we have fought together once. If our relations with the Amazons were to heal, we would become stronger."

"But we only came together out of necessity." Herb countered, "The War of Lines forced us to band together for a while if my history lessons are correct."

The Prophet nodded, "It would be the Kings decision at the end. Our people are still deciding on who is to ascend."

"You may leave," The Dragon prince watch as the prophet walked away before sighing and slumping on his throne, "Seems like my arrogance has died with you father, it seems like only yesterday when I have argued with you that we shouldn't have talk of truce with the Amazons. Now I'm contemplating if we should ally ourselves with them."

Behind the throne, a man, taller than Herb sneered, "You have grown soft little brother just like our father."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act: 1 Chapter 18

Trust

Ranma let out a loud breath and let himself drop on the sofa in the living room. "I can't believe someone will put a freeze wand down someone's pants."

Shampoo shrugged, "Serves the guy right for groping that girl."

Kikori blushed, "You could have warned me that Ranma is trying to help that guys with the frozen underwear you know Xian Pu."

The amazon grinned, "I thought I'd loosen you up Kikori. I bet you enjoyed the show too by your blush."

Kikori blushed harder, "I did NOT!"

"I dun get ya girls." Ranma shook his head and reached for the stack of mail sitting on the coffee table, "Fliers, Fliers, Fliers, Bill, Bill, Fliers, Fabric softener sample, Urgent Message from Mage tower, Bill, more Fliers." Ranma shrugged, "Nothing important."

The two girls sweatdropped, "Ranma, did you say Urgent message from Mage tower?"

"Yeah." Ranma nodded as he turned on the Television.

Kikori sighed, "Your hopeless, I'll be in the kitchen making dinner."

Shampoo blinked, "I'll be in back yard doing Kata."

"Sure."

Ranma sat in the living room watching a show on the Television for few more minutes before blinking, "Wait, urgent message from the tower?"

The pig-tailed mage scratched his head and rummaged through the pile of mail and picking out a large brown envelope with a red 'Urgent' stamped on it, "Oops."

***********************************************************************

"So, what's the urgent message?" Kikori asked as she placed the last plate of food on the table.

"Oh, we're going ta Kyoto ta get a mission tomorrow." Ranma said as he starts to shove food into this mouth.

"What about me?" Shampoo asked using her chopsticks to point to herself.

Ranma blinked, "Ya know, the letter didn't say."

  
Kikori frowned, "That's odd. I guess you'll have to come with us to the Kyoto tower. Unless you think you can handle the shop by yourself."

"I'll come along," Shampoo said after thinking for a while, "Great grandmother told me to learn from the two of you. I can't learn if I'm not following you now can I?"

"Well, if we have a mission, then ya can't follow us anyway." Ranma pointed out, pausing from his meal for a second, "The tower usually doesn't allow extra people joining in on a mission, ya know that."

Shampoo nodded, "It'll be all right, I've always wanted to see the Kyoto tower. Being stuck in our village training doesn't leave one with a lot of time to visit other places."

Kikori nodded, "I know what you mean."

"Of course ya do," Ranma said waving his chopsticks in front of the two female mages, "One sa obsessive macho tomboy that trains non-stop and another is a prissy princess that studied till she's sixteen."

The two female's eyes twitched in unison "Care to say that again Ranma."

Ranma blinked and placed his rice bowl down on the table, "Well I'm done eattin', see ya."

The two girls were about to slam their chopsticks on the table and give chase when Ranma stopped at the doorway, "Hmm, I guess ya girls shouldn't eat that much, ya both gaining weight after all."

Ignorantly, Ranma casually walked out giving a small wave to the girls.

"Ranma wishes for death," Shampoo muttered darkly as she pulled out her bon bori, "Amazon always gives death to those that wishes for it."

Kikori sighed, "Hit him harder for me please."

The Amazon grinned maliciously, "Will do."

***********************************************************************

Kikori sighed for the nth time as she watched Shampoo mercilessly beat on Ranma, "Umm, Shampoo, I think you can stop now."

The Amazon panted breathlessly as she slowly stored away her weapons, "Teach... you to... call... Amazon... FAT!"

"S-stupid... ma-macho... chick." Ranma stammered as he continues to struggle to stand up.

Kikori shook her head and placed a hand on Shampoo's shoulders to stop her from beating on Ranma, again.

"Stupid male." Shampoo grumbled and walked away angrily.

"Ranma, you HAVE to remember she isn't me." Kikori said to the disabled mage.

"I'll try ta remember... ow." Ranma twitched on the floor.

"I need to talk to Shampoo," Kikori said turning around, "Don't move around much."

"Kikori, can't you heal me first." Ranma whined.

"Hmph, teach you to call me fat."

***********************************************************************

"Stupid MALE!"

Kikori walked up to Shampoo and placed her hand on the Amazon's shoulder, "Shampoo, calm down."

"Stupid insolent, MALE insulted me like THAT and you're telling ME to CALM DOWN!" Shampoo growled.

"It's just the way he is." Kikori said patiently, "I'm surprised he didn't act like this for this long."

"More the reason to teach him a lesson." Shampoo continues to growl.

"Ranma... this is just how Ranma is Shampoo. He's loudmouth that doesn't really care who he insults." Kikori said with a small smile, "But to the people he knows, he's usually polite enough, he only acts like that to a few people." The Priestess pauses for a second as if to think, "Actually, I'm pretty sure I'm the only person he acts like a loudmouth to. Even Ryoga doesn't get into as much arguments with him as I do."

Shampoo blinked, "Are you saying that I should feel glad he is insulting me and acting like a jerk when I'm around?"

Kikori laughed softly, "Not really, but you SHOULD feel... something. It just means Ranma trusts you enough to not put up as much walls as he does with other people he knows." Kikori gives Shampoo a smile, "I have to go see if Ranma is still twitching on the ground or if he managed to crawl to his room. Remember what I said. Don't judge Ranma by what he says."

Shampoo scratches her head as she watched Kikori leave, "Guess I'll forgive him, but he better apologize!"

***********************************************************************

Kikori sat next to Ranma, who is lying down unconscious, and rested her chin on his bed.

"Half the girls you meet hate your guts, the other half wants to drag you to their room and have their way with you. Then there are some of us that just don't know what to do with you."

Ranma groaned as he tries to push himself upright, "Wha' happen?"

Kikori pushed Ranma back down and frowned at him, "Lay down you jerk." 

"Who are ya callin' a jerk ya... ow." Ranma winced when Kikori poked at one of his bruises, "What did ya do THAT for!"

"Lay still," Kikori said softly as she pulls up his cover to his shoulders, "You've just been beaten up by Shampoo for calling her fat AND saying she's a macho chick. You should be glad you're alive."

Ranma grinned sheepishly, "I guess I went overboard huh?"

"Now THAT is an understatement Ranma." Kikori replied before resting her chin on his bed again.

Ranma turned to his side, painfully, and faced Kikori, "Guess I'll have to apologize to her."

Kikori nodded her head.

"I guess it just felt too much like when it's just you and me." Ranma smiled embarrassed, "Guess Shampoo is more like family than I thought huh?"

"You better remember to apologize to her," Kikori said frowned at her partner, "She's really mad when I went and talked to her."

"Dun worry Ki-chan, I will." Ranma said before adding with a smirk, "But of course, I can't apologize for something that I KNOW is true."

Kikori gave Ranma a playful hit, "Go to sleep, you'll need it for tomorrow."

"You too, sweet dreams Ki-chan." Ranma turned himself to lie on his back once again and closed his eyes.

"Good night Rammie." 

***********************************************************************

Shampoo fumed as the trio of mages sat on a private jet sent to retrieve them. 

**That... that MALE! He's lucky I keep my swords sharp, or I'll neuter him with them when they're dull!**

Let me rephrase, Shampoo is about to explode with thoughts of violence towards a certain spirit mage.

**No, neutering would be a mercy. He'll beg for me to neuter him when I finish with him** Shampoo chuckled darkly, **Yes... he'll beg me THEN I'll neuter him**

***********************************************************************

Ranma shivered in his seat on the other side of the jet while still trying to figure out why the Amazon is still anger at him. 

"I still don't get it."

Kikori sighed and shook her head, "Saying when you say all those stuff, you mean it in the nicest way possible is NOT the way to apologize."

"What? I mean you have to admit, she does eat a lot, I mean all the girls in the mage tower do compared to normal girls and she does martial arts, so she IS macho compared to normal girls." Ranma scratched his head, "Ya girls are too confusing to figure out."

The priestess's eyes twitched, "Or maybe you're just too dimwitted Ranma."

"What did I do to deserve that!" Ranma said with a frown.

"All you needed to do is take back what you said and all will be okay!" Kikori said tiredly.

"What? A man can't go back on the words he said!" Ranma said puffing out his chest, "If I go back on those words, what will I go back on next!"

Kikori blinked, "What kind of twisted logic is that?"

"It's not twisted!"

Kikori blinked, "What?"

"It's not!"

"Right..."

***********************************************************************

After the jet landed on a private air stripe owned by the mage tower, the three mages entered into a teleport site that lead directly to the mage tower of Kyoto.

"I hate teleporters." Ranma grumbled, "Gives me this really weird feelin' all over."

"I thought you're used to it already." Kikori said walking ahead of Ranma, with Shampoo walking by her side, paying no heed to the signs on the walls, "Come on, the council are waiting for us."

"Yeah yeah." Ranma grumbled some more before catching up with Kikori.

"What will I do when you go meet the council?" Shampoo asked curiously.

"Well, I guess you can wander around the tower," Kikori answered, "But it's quite big. Why don't you go to the waiting room in front of the briefing room in about fifteen minutes?"

"Sure." Shampoo nodded and walked away from her companions.

"She's going to be so bored." Ranma remarked as they walked into the waiting room.

Kikori laughed slightly, "I guess she would."

The two walked towards a desk in the empty waiting room. Behind the desk, a woman with glasses sat there with a large book open in front of her.

"Excuse me, we received a summon." Kikori said getting the woman's attention.

"Kikori Sekihara and Ranma Saotome?" The woman asked in a bored tone of voice.

"Yes."

"The Arch-Priest and Elder Spirit mage are waiting for you in the briefing room." The woman marked something down on the book, "You may enter now."

The two mages nodded and entered the briefing room.

***********************************************************************

"Elder." Kikori and Ranma bowed respectfully towards the elder of the spirit mages and the Arch-Priest. The two elder is wearing a gray robe and a red robe respectively. While the elder holds a walking stick, further giving the image of an old, but wise man, the Arch-Priest looks young, when compared to the elder. The think book that he held in his hand has a leather cover embroiled with gold patterns and a red star in the middle of it. Both of the council members stood behind a podium in a well lighted room.

"A hope your trip here from Nerima was pleasant." The Arch-Priest said pleasantly.

"Yes Elder." Kikori answered as Ranma mumbled incoherently.

The elder chuckled, "I see Ranma isn't agreeing with you as per usual Kikori."

Kikori jabbed her elbow at her partner, who replied with a grumble and made a face.

"No elder." Ranma replied, "Just not having a good day."

The two members of the mage council nodded before clearing they're throats, "Ranma Saotome, Kikori Sekihara hear and obey. Due to the increased incidents of rouge attacks against the mage tower, our numbers of mages available for missions has dwindled to the point where we need to start recalling mages that are on vacation." The Arch-priest paused and watched the two mages before continuing, "From the ones that we can choose, the two of you are the most suitable for the mission that has suddenly come up."

The two older mages picked up a folder from they're podium and gave them to Ranma and Kikori. The two younger mages glanced through the folder.

"A diplomatic mission elder?" Kikori said uncertainly, "Surely you can find someone better than me and Ranma."

"Yeah, I'm not exactly the talkin' type ya know." Ranma added.

"Yes, we are aware of that," The elder of spirit mages said with a nodded, "We HAVE seen what all the missions you two have been on ended up like."

Kikori and Ranma both blushed.

"But looking at our other choices, you two would be our best bet." The Arch-Priest finished.

"If I may ask," Kikori said after skimming through the folder, "Who exactly ARE your other choices?"

"The Tripping twins and the Destructo duo as the other mages called them I believe." The elder of spirits said wiry, "Quite aptly named too if I may say so."

"Can't ya recall the ones more capable of this mission and send us ta take over their mission?" Ranma asked.

"Oh believe me, if that were possible, then I would do that." The Arch-Priest answered, "Unfortunately, all those mages are on other diplomatic missions that are of more immediate importance."

"Oh."

"If there aren't any more questions, the two of you will be leaving tomorrow morning with Xian Pu as your guide once you have reached China. You will first go to the Amazon village and then travel to the meeting point where the Musk has set up to meet with the two of you." The elder of spirits said, "Oh and Ranma, try not to turn this mission into the massive free for all magic slinging contests OR start rumors to further embarrass your partner. Having being mistaken for a lap dancer is quite demeaning, especially when you're a priestess, if you know what I mean."

Ranma sighed and shuffled out of the room with a blushing Kikori following him.

The two members of the mage council watched the two walks out, sighed and muttered almost in unison, "As if our relationship with the Musk Dynasty isn't fragile enough."

***********************************************************************

Shampoo laughed uncontrollably as Ranma, Kikori, and herself sat on the plane.

"Ha ha ha, laugh it up." Ranma muttered, "I can't believe they sent us on a boring mission like this."

Kikori rolled her eyes, "Trust me when I say this Ranma; no mission is boring while you are involved in it. We'll probably insult some Musk noble and start a civil war, and that's looking at it in the most optimistic way."

Shampoo continued to laugh like a hyena.

"You're not exactly instilling confidence in me Ki-chan." The pig-tailed mage replied with a sigh, "Still, I can't really screw up a mission that badly right?"

"You're right; you can't screw up a mission that badly," Kikori said with a nodded, "You'll screw it up even worst."

The laughing never stopped.

***********************************************************************

"So let me get this straight," Ranma said as the trio of mages made their way to the Amazon village, "The Musk Dynasty are 'arch-rivals' of the Amazons, but they're still asking for a semi-alliance with the mage tower?"

Kikori nodded, "Yes, from what the tower figured, the Musk has suffered a bad winter so they want to make a friendly relationship with the tower in hopes of getting the Musk through the year and maybe some more contact with the outside world."

"Feh, Musk is scum." Shampoo scoffed, "They use the Jusenkyo water for their own ill gains."

Ranma and Kikori blinked and turn towards the Mind mage, "What do you mean by that?"

Shampoo turned to Kikori, "They use the spring of the drowned girl to make their own brides from animals to give themselves more power." The Amazon sneered, "The only reason we are still not at war is because the last king of the Musk as announced a truce with us and say they would not use the spring as much."

Ranma shivered, "They use it to ALL animals? Even the guy ones?"

Shampoo nodded grimly, "Although they usually find female ones because they 'behave' better, but cursed male animals are used also."

"Well, you certainly aren't painting a good picture for the Musk." Kikori said skeptically, "But then again, you've been brought up in the Amazon village Xian Pu, maybe your views are biased?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Shampoo replied coldly, "But Amazons have saying, is taught to all warriors in training: Musk we kill."

Ranma shivered again, "So glad I'm not Musk."

The Amazon only chuckled at Ranma darkly, "I still remember what you call me Ranma."

Kikori sighed in resignation, "Is it just me, or does Shampoo's Japanese get worse when she's mad?"

"I'm too afraid for my life to notice Ki-chan."

***********************************************************************

Shampoo stopped the trio of mages as they reached the border of the Amazon village, the guard on top of a small wooden tower yelled something down in Chinese towards them and used her spear to point at Ranma and Kikori.

"Just keep quiet and let me do the talking." Shampoo said to the two mages and walked forward yelling back something in Chinese also.

The guard grinned and leaped down from the tower to open the gate, "You I welcome to village."

Kikori and Ranma both nodded cautiously and followed Shampoo and the guard through the gate. 

The village seems to stop all its activities as they pass them, fighters stopped in their sparring, merchants suddenly stops bartering along with the shopper.

"Hey Xian Pu," Ranma asked quietly, "why is everyone staring at us like that?"

"Not much outsiders, even if they are from the mage tower, ever come here," Shampoo replied, "they're probably just surprised at your arrival, and me coming back so soon."

"We here." The guard announced. Ranma looked towards the large building they stood in front of. While all the other buildings in the village seem to be made of sturdy wood, this is the only building that is made from steel and cement. "Our Elder see you."

Shampoo nodded her thanks and replied in Chinese once again. The guard chuckled and quickly jogged back to her post.

"So what did you tell her?" Kikori asked before heading into a large building.

"Oh, the guard asked who you two are at the gate; I told her you two are from the mage tower at the gate." Shampoo replied with a shrug, "I saw the guard eyeing Ranma up, so I decided to tell her that he has no talent and isn't really that much of a guy anyways."

Ranma growled, "Hmph, more like I'm too MUCH of a man for you."

"Oh you want to prove to Shampoo." Shampoo said seductively and draped herself on to the spirit mage, "Shampoo happy to oblige."

"Ack!" Ranma turned his head aside, hiding his blushed face and quickly walks past the two girls and entered the building.

"He's no fun at all." Shampoo sighed before following Ranma in.

Kikori blinked and sighed, "Well, at least we didn't blow up anything yet."

***********************************************************************

"Elder." The three mages bowed respectfully at Cologne when they reached the center of the building.

"Xian Pu, Ranma, Kikori," Cologne greeted, "I heard about your mission, and I'm sorry to say this, but the amazons cannot aide you in this endeavor.  For one thing, the Musk does not trust us, for another, we do not trust them."

Ranma blinked, "Wow, straight to the point."

The priestess covered her mouth to conceal her mirth, "That is all right elder. All Ranma and I need are a guide to lead us to the meeting point with the Musk."

Cologne nodded, "Very well, Xian Pu shall lead you to the agreed point of meeting."

Ranma and Kikori nodded, "Thank you Elder."

"Well, now that the business is concluded," Cologne said with a smile, "How are the three of you getting along? I hope Xian Pu isn't too much of a burden."

Shampoo fumed, "Great grand mother! I am NOT a child; I can take care of myself. Why would I need to burden Ranma and Kikori!"

"Naw, Shamps is great." Ranma said with a smirk, "Helped us out a lot too."

"Yes, Xian Pu has been great help to us." Kikori replied more politely.

"Ah, don't need to sugar coat things in front of me," Cologne said, waving her hand dismissively, "My great granddaughter is quite a handful at times as I understand it."

"Grandmother!"

Ranma and Kikori blushed, "Oh no, umm... she isn't a handful..."

"Not you two too!" Shampoo whined, "Everyone is against me."

Cologne cackled, "Sorry I can't talk to you three for long, but I do have other businesses I need to tend to." The Elder turned to her heir, "Xian Pu, would you give Ranma and Kikori a tour of the village and show them the guest hut that they would be staying in?"

"Okay."

Ranma grinned, "Thanks for letting us stay for the night."

"Yes," Kikori added, "I was sure Ranma would force us to sleep in a tent for the night. Something about roughing it adds to character."

"It's not my fault no everyone agrees to it." Ranma huffed, "Well, thanks again old ghoul."

Cologne's eyes flashed briefly, sending a wave of pain into Ranma's head, "Show some respect boy."

"Ghoul."

WHOOSH.

"ITE*!"

Kikori sighed as Ranma was flung out of the building by means of mind magic from Cologne, "I am sorry elder, at least he was able to hold his mouth till the end."

"That male should learn to not talk." Shampoo muttered darkly as she is reminded of the insults that Ranma had given her.

*Author's note: I know I said I don't like using Japanese lingo, but it just seem so proper to use it here ^^;*

***********************************************************************

Ranma flopped down on his bed and let out a breath, "It seems like years since we last saw a small village like this one huh, Ki-chan?"

Kikori smiled in reply and sat on a bed next to Ranma's, "Yes, it feels more comfortable than being in a big city."

Ranma grinned, "It's not as big as an apartment, but it feels more like a home than those city places."

The priestess nodded and once again found herself admiring the small hut that they are to spend the night in. Only one window is placed on the circular wall that surrounds them, adorn by a thin curtain that has no patterns on it, it seems to give the hut a pleasant feeling.  A small table stands on the opposite side of the beds with some flowers, a lavender, in a short, but thin vase.

"Hey Ranma," Kikori said absently swinging her legs as she sat on her bed, "Do you think you can get a cure for your Jusenkyo curse here?"

"I don't think that's necessary, I can get a cure when I take the spirit mage quest." Ranma replied with his eyes closed, "Besides, I doubt the Jusenkyo curse will let me be cured of it this easily."

"But, no talent has ever-"

"Shh." Ranma silenced his partner, "I can do it. I'll get to second circle, just watch me."

"What if you don't?"

The blue eyed mage sighed and remained silent.

"I'll find a way to cure you."

He sat up slowly and stared out of the window, "Thanks Ki-chan. And don't worry, I will find a way, after all, Saotome Ranma don't lose right?"

Kikori pressed her lips together and watched her partner drop back on to his back again and drift off to sleep.

"Does he?"

***********************************************************************

Shampoo leads the two Japanese mages through the empty main street. Stores on either side of the large street are all closed. Only one or two of them are starting to open. Loud 'Kiya's from practicing Amazons can be heard from the street as the three walked down it.

"I can only bring you to your meeting point like we said yesterday," Shampoo frowned, "Be careful you two, especially you Kikori."

"Don't worry about me," Kikori said with a smile, "we are on a diplomatic mission, the Musk royalty is obligated to put me and Ranma under their protection."

"Yes but-" 

"Don't worry Shamps," Ranma said with his usual cocky flare, "What's the worst that can happen? I insult some high councilor or something and they kick us out. No worries."

The two girls sweatdropped.

"I see you have confidence in your behavior too Ranma." Kikori covered her mouth to hide her smile, "Just don't say anything and we should be fine."

"That was my plan all along." Ranma replied.

Shampoo gave a nod to the gate guards as they reached it. The gate opened up half way, giving just enough space for the three to walk through.

"It'll be an hour's walk till we get there." Shampoo said pulling out a spear from no where.

"What's with the weaponry Shamps?" Ranma asked looking at the spear, "An imbued weapon too."

"I am your spear maiden," Shampoo replied simply.

"Spear maiden?" Kikori frowned, "What does that mean?"

"It basically means she's our body guard." Ranma answered with a nodded, "It's short and to the point, Amazons like things that way after all."

"Is true." Shampoo nodded, "Not like this Japanese language, so many words to speak for so little meaning."

"What can we say," Kikori shrugged, "It's the way they made Japanese."

***********************************************************************

"We here." Shampoo said standing her spear with the butt on the ground, "I will wait till the Musk come to pick the two of you up."

Ranma and Kikori nodded and stared across the clearing they are in absorbing the environment.

"Hey Xian Pu," Ranma licked his dry lips, "Umm, sorry 'bout yesterday and the day before."

Shampoo blinked and frowned cutely, "What do you mean."

"Well, you know..." Ranma scratched the back of his head.

"Don't worry about it Ranma," Shampoo said, not facing the spirit mage, "It's forgotten already."

Ranma smiled and gave a friendly slap on Shampoo's back, "Great, just didn't want to walk into the next mission with something like this on my mind."

"I told you," Kikori said shaking her head, "If you would just apologize to her earlier, you wouldn't need to wait till the last second."

Ranma grinned sheepishly.

"They are here," Shampoo said out loud and pointed towards an approaching figure from across the clearing, "I'll head back to the village."

"See ya in a few days Shamps." Ranma grinned and waved at the Amazon.

"Enjoy you're your visit back home." Kikori said pleasantly.

Shampoo nodded and leaped onto a branch of a nearby tree and took off silently, shaking the branches that she lands on.

"Are you the two from the mage tower?"

Kikori and Ranma looked up at the large man in front of them. He wore a thin vest made of leather and a pair of loose fitting trousers. His face is covered with hair and two pointed ears stood stiffly on the top of his head. 

"Yes, we are." Kikori answered.

"Follow me." The man said simply, "Oh, and would the two of you wear something that would hide you?"

"Huh?" Kikori frowned and Ranma just shrugged dismissively, "Why? Is there a problem?"

"Well, a lot of the younger men in our city has reached, what is your term, puberty I believe." The large men answered, "It is at this time they would look for a mate."

"So in other words, as long as you have breasts, they'll try to jump ya." Ranma commented rudely.

"Yes... basically." The large man chuckled in amusement, "Ah yes, my name is Song of the tracker wolf clan."

"Ranma Saotome, Spirit mage." Ranma nodded slightly.

"Kikori Sekihara, Priestess of healing." Kikori bowed politely with a small smile, "Well Ranma, I guess you should wear a cloak too, after all if you turn into a girl suddenly..."

"Turn into a girl?" Song frowned, "You have been to Jusenkyo."

Ranma chuckled nervously, "Not exactly. Ya see, I got splashed by a sample of the spring of the drowned girl 'cause a some reason."

"I see." Song raised an eyebrow, "I will tell our prince to hide the Chiisuiton from you then."

"Chiisuiton?" Ranma swallowed nervously, "It's bad?"

"Well, we used to use it to lock the curses that we give to the animals that we've defeated," Song explained, "But we don't use it like that anymore, it's more a part of the wedding ritual that we adopted now."

The three walked in silence for some time, exiting the forest and entered a rocky area. Ahead of them, a large wall, with guards patrolling the top of it, stands in between two rock formations. At the center of the wall, a large bronze door stood.

"Well come to the City of the Musk." Song said in a proud voice, "The birth place of the mightiest warriors to ever exist in the world."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Done ^^ took me quite a while huh? 

I've been typing a lot these days ever since I started collage and non of the typing is remotely NEAR anything that can be described as creative I guess this is quite a break for me, actually writing something that doesn't involve Shakespearean literature or whatnot.

Neways, I hope all the writing about poems and such didn't affect my fic writing. If it did, I think I'll go complain to my collage about my English teacher leeching away my brain power or something (not that I have too much to begin with XD)

After not writing so long, some suggestions or flames to put me back to my old writing self would be really appreciated ^^ So R&R ^^ 

No Omake this update ^^; sorry to those of you who just come to read my Omakes and not my fics ^^


	19. Chapter 19

Ranma stared at the wall in front of him as he mindlessly followed the Song towards the Musk city. The wall is made of very smooth limestone which seems out of place since there isn't any trace of limestone near the city. The guards on top of the wall all carried a long bow, which is slung on their backs, a quiver of arrows, and a simply looking long sword. As they approached the gate itself, Song looked upwards and gave a quick hand signal to the gate keeper.

"I hope the two of you do not mind walking up stairs," Song said as the trio waited for the gate to open, "It is one of the natural defenses of our city. Our city is built in a half dried up lake on top of this very mountain. It is said that the water of Jusenkyo comes from the very lake that our city lays."

Kikori and Ranma both nodded and pulled the hood of their cloaks over their head to hide themselves, "How long is this set of stairs that we're about to walk up?" Kikori asked curiously.

"We never measured it," Song said as he led the two through the gates towards the stairs, "But people have counted the steps and ended up with a count of nine-hundred-five thousand six hundred and eighty-three steps."

Ranma whistled appreciatively, "That's some LONG stairs."

Song chuckled, "Yes, these stairs are also part of the final ceremony before a young one of our city can become a warrior."

Kikori looked up the stairs, squinting her eyes from the bottom, not following her Ranma and Song, "What's that over there?"

Song frowned, "What are you speaking of?"

Kikori squinted more, "That wooden cross far over there."

The wolf-man blinked in surprised, "You have good eyes, those are the gravesites of two of the most respected people to have ever tried to get pass our defense. Those crosses marked the place where they died."

Kikori whistled and held up her left arm.

"Umm, Kikori," Ranma said scratching his head, "I don't think Fudari can follow you across the se- OW!"

The priestess stifled a giggle as her pet eagle, Fudari, pecked the spirit mage once before landing on arm, "Who said she flew all the way here? When you weren't looking, I had the tower send for her." Kikori said smugly, "Fudi, can you go up there to that wooden cross and get me that shiny thing on it?"

The eagle rubbed herself against Kikori affectionately before chirping and flying off.

Song blinked, "You are really full of surprises, if I didn't know better, I would say that you are one of the original descendents of our tribe."

Kikori blushed, "Thank you for your compliments."

Ranma sighed loudly, "So, why did you call that eagle of yours."

"I don't know," Kikori said and started to walk up the stairs with the two others, "Something about this is bothering me."

After a few minutes of walking, Fudari glided down from above and landed on Kikori's shoulders with a necklace between her beak. Kikori stared at the necklace. The chain is made of pure silver with a very small pearl at the middle of the whole necklace.

"Father…"

A single tear fell from the priestess's eyes as she continued to stare at the necklace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Act 1: Chapter 19

Sibling rivalry

Ranma watched as Kikori dashed up the stairs ignoring everything surrounding her to reach the two wooden crosses that she has her eyes on. Her eagle jumped off her and landed on Ranma's shoulder roughly.

"Will your partner be alright?" Song asked with a concerned filled voice.

"She'll be fine, let's go catch up with her." Ranma replied and started to jog up the stairs, being careful not to run fast enough to make the eagle lose her balance, following the wolf man.

"I would suggest that we don't jog up Ranma Saotome." Song suggested, "I doubt your partner can run all the way to the wooden crosses from here."

"I guess your right," Ranma said slowing down his pace, "How do you know Kikori can't make it up, after all, I can jog up there no problem, and can probably run there if I have the proper motivation."

"The crosses are beyond the outer ring of our city," Song replied, "It is our first line of defense in the event of an invasion. The guards there won't let her pass unless I am with her."

"Oh…" Ranma scratched the back of his head nervously, "I still think we should at least catch up with Kikori before she reaches the outer ring."

Song nodded and started jogging again along with Ranma again.

************************************************************************

Ranma placed his hand on Kikori's shoulder, letting Fudari off his shoulder and hop onto her owner's who knelt on the stairs, gasping for air, "Take it easy Kikori," Ranma whispered in her ears, "You'll see them soon."

The priestess nodded mechanically and stood up, "I'm sorry about my outburst, Song."

The musk guide nodded, "It is quite all right, I understand you want to see your parent's death place. Do not fret, we are close. Once we pass the outer ring we should be within two minutes walk from there."

Kikori nodded again and followed the Song up the stairs as he begins to tell the two mages of legends and myths of the city and the shallow mountain top lake that the city resides in.  After a while, the trio reached a relatively small gate that blocks anyone from going further. Beside the gate, walls with small holes on them, a bit taller than the gate itself, reached from one side of the stairs to the other, covering the rest of the area in which a person can pass.

"Who walks these stairs?"

"Song of the tracker wolf clan with the two mages from afar." Song replied lifting his right fist and placed it on his forehead.

"Open the gate!"

The gate opened with a loud creaking sound revealing a short, flat strip of land where some Musk guards stood sparring with each other. Song nodded at the guards as he led the two mages pass the gates, "This is the outer ring of the Musk city, only the veterans or the more experienced warriors of Musk are allowed posted here. So you do not need to worry about unmarried Musk just yet." Song said with an amused smile on his face.

Ranma and Kikori kept silent as they walked pass the older warriors of the Musk army, observing their activities.

"Isn't this place a bit too small for defense?" Ranma asked curiously, "I don't think it a whole lotta people can stand here and fight."

Song nodded, "Yes, which is why only veterans are posted here. We cannot afford putting inexperienced warriors here, if we can't have quantity, go for quality."

The pigtailed mage nodded at the bit of information and looked at the next set of stairs they are about to set their feet on, "Man, if I ever need to walk up a set of stairs like this again, I swear I'll blow something up."

No one spook or reacted to Ramna's comment. The trio walked silently, as the wooden crosses that marked Kikori's parent's grave became closer and closer. Minutes later, they stopped in front of the wooden marker.

Kikori knelt down before the crosses and placed her hands on it, "I went to they're funeral back in Japan, but it feels like they are here instead."

"I know what ya mean Kikori." Ranma said solemnly, "Saiko was buried in Japan too, but it's always in Tibet where I feel she's 'there'."

Song watched the two mages and shook his head sadly.

"Let's move on," Kikori said steeling her voice, "and hopefully we'll be able to accomplish something without too much trouble."

************************************************************************

"We are here." Song said once again, signaling the two Japanese mages to stop, "This is the inner ring, and immediately connected to it, is the inner city. Most of the soldiers in training and soldiers without too much experience are stationed here until they are sent out on missions and such."

Ranma stared up at the gate before them. It is much larger compared to the one of the outer gate, but a bit smaller than the main gate.  Although small in size compared to the main gate, it is much better fortified. More guards are patrolling the top of the walls and the gate, heavily reinforced by iron bars, are defended by some holes on the side of the large path that clearly had soldiers hidden behind it with crossbows and such.

"I am Song of the tracker wolf clan, here to guide the mages from afar to meet his Majesty." Song announced. Without an answer, the gates opened slightly, allowing one person to cross at a time.  The wolf man nodded to the two and led them across the gates revealing rows and rows of buildings and people practicing with they're swords and spears. Further ahead, another wall stood, but with the gate wide open showing a busy street and at the end, a large castle stood proudly with two flags, one with a green claw, another with a blue claw, watching over the lively city.

"This is the inner ring, most of the people practicing here are actually in training." Song explained, "Of course, these are the advanced groups. Through those gates are the city itself, and the castle in the middle is where you will be staying for the time you are here."

The two mages nodded and followed their guide through the gate and into the city. Children ran around cheerfully chasing a ball. Normal looking women talked to each other and laughing occasionally. Men with animal ears and claws manned the shops or worked away in front of an anvil hammering away at hot pieces of metal, shaping it into tools. At seeing all the people, Fudari lifts off and flew away from Kikori's shoulders.

"Excuse me," Kikori said half way through the walk, "Why is it that I don't see any women with any animal traits?"

Song nodded, "It is one of the reasons why the Musk has used Jusenkyo to bring us brides for so long.  Our people never did have daughters." Song paused and thought for a moment, "Well there HAS been a true female Musk, but she was the child of an honorary member, but I do not think that this is what you mean."

Kikori nodded, "Do you know why that is?"

"We do not know," Song said with a shrug, "A curse for using the spring in this way? Or maybe some magic on this mountain that no one can see? We just live as we have lived and not think about it."

************************************************************************

Herb sat on his throne and tapped his fingers impatiently, **I hope the negotiations will go well, if worst comes to worst, I'll have to do as brother have suggested and raid some of the neighboring villages to survive.**

"The representatives of the Mage tower has arrived my prince." An announcer with large eyes, slick looking skin, and a bulging throat bellowed.

The dragon prince let a small smile appear on his face, "Let them in."

Song, Ranma, and Kikori, all entered the throne room one after another and stopped in front of him. Song dropped to his knees and bowed, while Ranma and Kikori bowed stiffly in Japanese fashion.

"My prince, I present to you Ranma Saotome and Kikori Sekihara of the Kyoto Mage tower." Song said loudly.

"I expected the tower to send someone from the Chinese tower," Herb mused out loud, "may I inquire why they send someone from afar?"

Ranma was about to reply but Kikori gave him a look and replied herself, "The Mage tower in China are busy due to all the trouble that has arisen."

"I see." Herb said, "I must apologize though, the negotiations can not begin until tomorrow due to some events I must deal with today. I will have some of the servants lead you to your rooms. Once again I must apologize."

The two mages bowed, "Thank you for your hospitality."

A girl, a few years older than the two mages, timidly led the two mages away from the throne and out of the throne room.

"Councilor, come forth." Herb said after the two left the room.

"My liege." The councilor said kneeling on the floor before Herb.

"What do you think of the representatives from the tower?" Herb asked.

"They are young and seemingly inexperienced with these types of environment." The councilor replied, "It seems to me they tower isn't taking us seriously. Although, the girl has a good head on her shoulder, the boy doesn't seem to know what he is doing."

Herb nodded, "It is either that or the random attacks from factions against the towers are not only affecting the Chinese tower."

"The situation looks very dreary my liege," The councilor said plainly, "Most probably, they are sent just to listen to us and then reject our proposal so that we are not insulted."

"It seems that way doesn't it?" Herb said holding in a sigh, "You may leave Councilor."

"By your leave."

Herb pinched the bridge of his nose, **There is still hope; I refuse to let the Musk be reduced to pillaging villages after father's effort.**

"Still clinging to that stupid ideal of yours brother?"

Herb growled, "It is the legacy that our father left us Spice. I will not let it fade away in just one generation."

Spice stood a head taller than Herb. He wears the same dragon scaled armor that Herb has, but it has a bluish sliver tint to it, rather than the gold color on Herb's armor. In all aspects, Spice looks exactly like a older, grown up version of Herb, but his hair is has blue stripes to it, and not the pink stripes that are on Herb's hair.  His hand also has more of an animalistic look to it. Where Herb's hands are generally human like, Spice's hands is missing one finger, and looks more rigid.

"Bah, the fools dream that is never meant for the Musk." Spice scoffed, "Do as you like brother, but know this, you are starting the downfall of the Musk. Our tradition and believes are slowly being striped away because of father, and you are furthering our demise."

Herb winced internally and watched his older brother leave the room, **Father… should I continue to build from the frame that you have started, or are you wrong? I hope with all my heart that you are right… **

************************************************************************

"These are the rooms you are given, dinner will be served at sundown, someone will come and tell you when it is time." The servant said with her head bowed to the two mages, "If you need anything, pull on the rope beside the bed and someone will come as quickly as possible. Hot water is available during night time only and-"

"We'll be fine." Kikori said cutting off the maid, "Thank you."

The maid curtsied and walked away.

"So, what do ya think?" Ranma said casually, opening the door to one of the rooms for Kikori, "Impressions? Thoughts? Sudden burst of enlightenment?"

Kikori ignored Ranma and walked towards the extremely large bed, surround by silk veils. On either side of the head of the bed are stands with unlit lamps. A large, full body mirror stood right beside a door made of glass, framed with bronze, leading out to a veranda.

"Wow…"

Ranma scratched his head, "Yeah, first time I've seen a room with a bed this big."

The priestess shook her head and flopped down onto the bed, "Prince Herb seems to be new to his position."

The pigtailed mage gave his partner a stare, "What are ya talkin' about?"

"My thoughts," Kikori replied with her eyes closed, "You asked about them."

"Err, right." Ranma said scratching his head again, "Forgot how serious ya get on serious missions."

"This will affect the tower in very serious ways Ranma," Kikori said exasperated, "Can't you at least TRY to be a bit more serious?"

"I'll be serious when I need ta." Ranma said dismissively, waving his hand in the air, "We're 'lone right now, no need ta get all uptight and all that."

Kikori huffed, "Anyways, from what I can see, Herb seems to be new to this. So we're both on equal grounds so to speak. But, he's been raised to do this, or so I think, and we are not, obviously, so…"

"We're back at Go wit'out the two hundred dollars." Ranma finished, "We don't need to worry about it too much. We're just here to listen and report back to see if the offer's any good. From the looks of it, I don't think there is any way this can get shot to hell."

"Yes, the Musk doesn't seem as brutish and bestial as Shampoo labeled them as." Kikori remarked, "In some ways, they seem more organized that the tower."

"Yeah?" Ranma grinned, "Well, nothing ta do till tomorrow and still six hours 'til dinner, any suggestions?"

"I'm going to take a nap." Kikori said crawling towards the pillows and snuggling to them, "Wake me up when it's time for dinner."

"I'll check out my room then." Ranma muttered, walking towards the door. Before he leaves the room, Ranma turns and looks towards the bed to see Kikori asleep already. He let out a breath and walked towards his partner and folded the bed cover over her, "That's what ya get for sleepin' OVER the blankets." Ranma snickered softly, "Sometimes I wonder, is it you that takes care of me, or is it the other way around."

The door closed with a soft click, leaving the room void of anyone except a sleeping Kikori.

************************************************************************

"Excuse me."

Kikori opened her eyes slowly and rubbed it, "Yes?"

"Dinner will be served soon; Prince Herb wishes to dine with you and your partner." A voice said from outside the room.

"Thank you." The priestess pushed herself up, letting the sheets fall off her body. Looking out of the glass door, a red tinge filled the sky. The moon barely visible in the sky and only the brightest stars twinkled weakly.

Knock Knock

Kikori turned towards the sound, "Who is it?"

"It's me Ranma."

"Come in."

Ranma opened the door and stepped in with his cloak draped over his arm, "Prince Herb invited us ta dinner."

"I heard."

"Guess we need ta wear formal wear right?" Ranma said sheepishly, "I really dun wanna wear our official tower uniform."

Kikori rolled her eyes at Ranma's groan, "I don't know what you have against your uniform, I thought as long as its clothes you'll wear it."

"As long as it's COMFORTABLE clothes." Ranma said, "The collar is so stiff and the pants get so tight when I sit down."

"At least you don't need to wear an oversized robe with unusually large sleeves." Kikori mumbled, "Now I remember why I agreed with you to never take missions like these."

Ranma shrugged and laid his cloak on the floor and folded it in half. Lines appeared on his black cloak, forming a square and flared in a brilliant white glow. He reached into the square and felt around for a moment before pulling out a black formal shirt, with silver trims. On the left side of the chest, the Japanese Kanji for Wind is embroiled in green and on the right sleeve an intricate pattern of lines that intertwine each other is also embroiled.

"At least we don't need ta carry around any bags or back packs," Ranma said shrugging off his red Chinese style shirt and putting on his uniform, and then pulled a plain black pair of pants, "Seriously, I have ta get the tailor ta make the pants more comfortable."

"Umm, Ranma," Kikori her voice muffled by the pillow her face is buried in at the moment.

"Yeah?"

"Can you change somewhere else?"

"Oh… right… sorry." Ranma stuttered and shuffled out of the room as quickly as possible.

************************************************************************

"Ah, I was worried you didn't have any formal wear when you entered the throne room without any luggage." Herb joked as he saw the two mages enter the dining room led by a maid.

"Being a mage from the tower does have a lot of benefits Prince Herb." Kikori said politely and curtsied. Her robe looks more like an evening gown. Made of all blue silks, the sleeves are fitted tightly on her arm until it reaches the elbow, when it flairs out in waves. The collar surrounds her neck loosely and the rest of the robe flows down. Two white ribbons that are sewn on to the shoulders are left hanging in front of her as it waves slightly with each step.

Ranma bowed stiffly once again wearing his uniformed that he changed into.

"Have a sit," Herb gestured to the seats in front of the mages, "Let me introduce the rest of the people here with us. To my left, is my brother, Spice, my right, my personal councilor Sal Te."

Ranma and Kikori nodded politely, "Pleased to meet you."

Sal Te nodded with a slight smile while Spice nodded curtly before speaking, "I am curious as to why the tower has sent two young mages from Japan to meet with us."

Kikori smiled, "The Chinese mage tower is experience lots of problems with anti-tower factions and other religious cults; the Japanese Mage tower is asked to send someone to consult with the Musk, so we are sent."

"Yes, but I am surprised they would sent someone as young as the two of you." Spice said with a smirk, "No offence of course."

Kikori continue to smile, "None taken, I assure you, we are here to hear your proposal, not to dismiss it."

**Man, that other prince guy sure doesn't like us.** Ranma thought as he sat quietly, observing everyone around the table, **The councilor seems to be worried about something, so is the prince. Must be some internal politics**

"…yes, the ribbon are actually represents which order of church I am in."

"And may I ask your partner what the lines on his right sleeves are?" The councilor asked.

Ranma jumped slightly, only noticeable to his partner who is sitting next to him, "Oh, the lines on the sleeve just mean what circle I am in."

"Circle?" Herb cut in, "Does that mean your rank?"

"Yes basically." Ranma said, stopping himself from revealing more information.

"Your partner isn't too talkative is he?" Herb jokingly said to Kikori, chuckling a bit.

"He's always quiet when we're on missions." Kikori said, with her ever present polite smile, "I see your brother is like my partner."

Herb blinked and turned to his brother, who is sitting at his chair quietly with his arms folded together and staring at the two Japanese mages, "My brother is probably just hungry and is waiting for the food to come." Herb replied and clapped his hands, "Bring in the appetizer, tell the chefs to hurry up with the food."

"Yes my liege." A servant behind Herb said and quickly walked to the kitchen.

"Something wrong Ranma?" Kikori said quietly to her partner, "You look like you saw something wrong."

Ranma shook his head, "Nothing's wrong, I don't think. At least nothing that should worry us."

The priestess smiled, "Well, at least the food is here and you'll at least be able to enjoy something."

************************************************************************

"I hope not all the meals here will have this much food." Kikori said, groaning and clutched at her stomach, "I don't think it's polite to leave any food on your plate here."

"Ya kiddin'?" Ranma said with a huge grin, "That is one of the best meals of my life!"

"It would be wouldn't it?" Kikori carefully sat down on her bed, "Ranma, you saw something wrong during dinner, I know you said it won't affect us, but I still want to know."

The pigtailed mage sighed and sat on the floor beside the bed, cross-legged, "Well, I think there's a problem with the politics here. I don't think Herb is in his proper position."

"What do you mean?" Kikori frowned.

"Well, if Herb is the leader, wouldn't he be King? And his brother, Spice, I don't think he likes Herb too much. So I'm guessing there is some problem with who is going to ascend to the throne and that Herb is just the temporary 'leader' or something." Ranma shrugged, "Not really our problem."

Kikori nodded, "So just another argument of who inherits the throne?"

"Most likely." Ranma nodded and stood back up, "Well, I'm going ta change out of this thing. It's chokin' me. See ya tomorrow mornin'."

"Good night Ranma."

************************************************************************

"I heard some more yelling again from the throne room."

"Really? Prince Herb and Prince Spice yells are very scary."

"Yeah, now that Herb wants to get help from the outsiders, they have been arguing so much more now."

Ranma frowned when he heard the maids gossiping as he exited Kikori's room, "Well, that didn't sound promisin'…"

************************************************************************

"Brother! This is ridiculous!" Spice bellowed, "Its one thing to talk to these outsiders, but to invite them to our dinner table and speak as if we are friends? You are going too far Herb."

Herb massaged his temples as he listen to Spice yell at him, "Spice, we must gain the outsider's trust in order to-"

"Yes, yes, I know all about your plan." Spice spat, "I'm telling you now brother, you better stop with this fools quest, or else you'll regret it."

"No, YOU listen brother." Herb growled, "I will not let our people be degraded to being savages attacking peaceful people just to get food again! What you are suggesting is going against everything our father, our grand father, our great grand father has worked for!"

Spice turned sharply and walked away from the throne, "You'll regret saying those words brother. Don't get used to the throne, because you'll be thrown off soon when the people hear about your choice."

"Don't do anything stupid Spice." Herb warned.

"How can I do anything more stupid that what you are doing?" Spice retorted before stepping out of the room.

Herb glared at the entrance of the throne room, "I won't let you ruin the peace our ancestor has given us."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi ya, SURPRISE! Umm… yeah… Anyways, I just wanted to finish this before I go head first into studying my finals, writing all my papers and stuff like that so I don't forget about it or delay this chapter for longer than it's suppose to be… So here ya go ^^

I don't have much to say this time, just that Biology sucks, Engish papers are annoying, Sociology papers are worst, and Psycology research papers are fun to make up. You guys didn't see that last comment ok?

Kinda short for a chapter, but it gets better… trust me ^^ I mean with screwed up internal politics, two half dragons, a city filled with people that can break twenty wooden planks at once and not to mention two hapless mages from Japan that doesn't know what is going on… What possibly can be boring about that?

OH yeah… before I forget, heh, believe it or not, I DID have a pre-reader along the way. A friend on mine, but now that he got himself a real job, I can't ask him to pre-read for me anymore, So anyone interested? If you are, please send me an email or ICQ me. My info is in that author link thingymajig. I really don't want to pre-read myself I mean my grammer really sucks and if I preread myself I'll just add more mistakes to it 

But enough with that… Heres an Omake for you

***Omake***Romantic getaway***Omake***

"Wow…"

Ranma scratched his head, "Yeah, first time I've seen a room with a bed this big."

The priestess shook her head and flopped down onto the bed, "Prince Herb seems to be new to his position."

The pigtailed mage gave his partner a stare, "What are ya talkin' about?"

"My thoughts," Kikori replied with her eyes closed, "You asked about them."

"Well personally, I'm not thinking about that right now."

Kikori opened her eyes to see Ramna on all fours on top of her, "I don't think it's polite to engage in lewd acts in borrowed room in another person's home."

"It's just makes it naughtier now doesn't it." Ranma grinned.

"Umm Script guy, don't you think you should stop them before this goes from PG-13 to NC-17?" Saiko said 'covering' her eyes with one hand and ready to take notes on another.

*sigh* "Well look at it this way, at least we'll have perfect blackmailing material for later."

"Yo, script guy," Ryoga said from the other side, "I don't want to ruin your fun, but Ukiko is here, underaged person, you might get sued."

*sigh* "CUT! STICK WITH THE SCRIPT FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! THIS ISN'T A SECOND RATE LEMON!"

"Sorry."

"Sorry."

"Gods… Don't they have they're own apartment to do this, I mean sure the bed is big and all they, but can't the hold it until they get home!"

 ***Omake***End***Omake***

Umm… yeah… dunno what happened there… I had another Omake idea, but I think it's a bit too hentai to post on FF.net… actually I had a few Omake ideas from previous chapters that are to hentai for FF.net… talk about perverted mind huh? ^^;;

Reviews are appreciated ^^ Pre-readers are needed ^^ Click on the nifty button below to if you want to review and send me an e-mail if you want to blow me up or Pre-read for me ^^ Thanks =/


	20. Chapter 20

Kikori laid on her stomach, resting her chin on her right palm, and kicking her legs absentmindedly as she watched Ranma stretch in her room, "So you're saying that you think that while Prince Herb is asking the tower for help with whatever, Prince Spice is dead set on going against that idea?"

Ranma stopped his stretching, walked to the edge of the bed beside Kikori, and sat down, "Yep. And I think it has been going on for a while," Ranma chuckled, "this is like sibling rivalry multiplied by a hundred."

Kikori frowned and rolled onto her back, "So will this affect our mission?"

"With our luck?" Ranma said sarcastically, "That's a sure bet."

"Not our luck Ranma, YOUR luck." Kikori replied with a straight face.

"What's THAT suppose to mean!" Ranma exclaimed jumping off the bed and faced Kikori.

"It means most of the time it's because of you that we end up in really tight spots." Kikori said with a smile on her face.

Ranma huffed and crossed his arms across his chest and sat back down, "Anyways, I think we need to be more on guard."

Kikori nodded silently.

"Breakfast is going to be served soon," Ranma said standing up again, "I'll go change and meet you outside."

"Not changing in front of me again?" Kikori said teasingly, "Or do you only strip for paying customers."

Ranma blushed, "I'll meet you outside in a few."

Kikori watched her partner exit her room, "Oh goddess why is it that we always get the missions that will turn all complicated."

* * *

Act 1: Chapter 20

The Saotome Secret Technique doesn't always seem so stupid…

"I hope you found breakfast to your liking?" Herb said from across a large rectangular table inside a large but simple room. Beside him, to his left, sat his councilor Sal Te, and behind him, by the door to the room, stood two guards.

"Yes, although I must say my taste differs from yours." Kikori replied politely, "But I do not think my partner minded the change of flavors in our meal."

The two musk at the table chuckled in remembrance of breakfast as Ranma blushed bright red in embarrassment, "Well, the food WAS good."

"Ahem." Herb cleared his throat, "Anyways, let's get onto business shall we? As the request that we sent to the tower had said, we wish to negotiate with the tower for daily supplies and some foods in exchange for help with the oppositions that the tower has been experiencing in the…"

Ranma tuned out the conversation as he studied the two Musk that are in front of him, letting Kikori do all the negotiations so he won't somehow screw up an already delicate situation, instead, he concentrated on the reaction of the two Musk nobles. **The councilor still seems to be suspicious of us. By the looks of him, he still thinks we're here to not insult them. Hopefully Kikori can convince him otherwise…**

The pigtailed mage switched his attention towards the Prince of the Musk, as he also watched the negotiations that he has passed on to his councilor to handle. They're eyes met, both digging into each other, hoping to find information out of each other. The contact is broken swiftly as the two turned their heads to observe the two negotiators again. **It's like he is trying to see any weakness in us. Maybe I'm looking into this too much, I mean after all, this is basically a city of fighters, probably just a habit of his or something.**

"…out of fairness, the tower can not pay your soldiers more than what we usually get paid for our missions just for this. Usually, missions such as this, the tower is only gets paid for a small amount, and with what you are suggesting, we'll be over paying you for your services and the tower would not accept the terms."

"Perhaps we can provide you with something else, along with our soldiers help." Herb suggested.

"We'll have to see what it is first, and run it by the mage council." Kikori replied evenly.

Herb nodded, "Councilor, send for the lore master, and ask him to bring some of the warrior scrolls."

Sal Te gasped, "But my prince, those are-"

Herb gave his councilor a glare, effectively cutting him off, "Hm, perhaps it is prudent for me to go with my councilor. Forgive me for leaving the two of you here, but we'll be back as soon as possible."

Kikori nodded, "Very well."

The two mages watched as the two large men walk out of the room, "So Ranma…"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think?"

Ranma sighed and leaned back on his chair, "Well, Herb seems to be hoping for the best, but that councilor guy, he's still suspicious of us, even at the end bit there with your suggestions and stuff."

"See, why can't you be this observant normally?" Kikori said with a small smile, "You might not be as big as a jerk if you were."

Ranma spluttered, "I'm always this observant!"

Kikori rolled her eyes and shook her head, "Delusions of grandeur."

* * *

"My prince, you must reconsider!" Sal Te said urgently as they walked towards the library of the castle, "You are giving away Musk secret combat techniques to a group of people that has been our opponent in the past!"

"It does not matter if they have some of our battle spells," Herb countered, "as long as they do not know of our magic weapon production methods or war tactics. After all, those are the Musk's true strength when it comes to battle."

The two stopped in front of a curiously modest wooden door and Sal Te quickly placed himself between Herb and the door, "Please, reconsider I beg of you."

Herb paused for a moment, "Sal Te, you have advised me in many things even before I was elected to hold the throne before a King is selected. I wish for you to think about this carefully, before stopping me again."

Sal Te stood there staring at Herb with his shouldered squared, "I…"

"Think, Sal Te, think carefully." Herb said calmly.

The councilor's head dropped and his shouldered sagged and stepped aside, but, a sad smile grazed his face, "For his majesties dream."

Herb nodded grimly and walked into the door.

* * *

Kikori smiled at the two returning Musk nobles, following behind them, a large man with round ears on the top of his head followed, carrying some books.

"These are some descriptions and minor details of some of the lore that we have," Herb explained and gestured for the man to place the books on the table, "Please, take a look."

Kikori turned towards Ranma, who shrugged and randomly picked one and starts to read. "My partner will be a better judge of these." Kikori explained to the two nobles.

Ranma stared at the lore in front of him trying to keep a neutral expression, **From the descriptions of these spells, it seems like it's on par with the higher level spells. But they are showing us this as if they are normal spells. This means they have even MORE powerful spells in they're library that the tower hasn't even heard of! This is more than enough to pay for supplies for the Musk for the next two years! **

"Well?"

Ranma licked his lips and closed the book slowly, "I'll have to discuss this change in offer with my partner privately."

Kikori frowned at Ranma who nodded in reply, "Why don't we meet again later in the afternoon after lunch perhaps?" Kikori finally said.

Herb nodded, "I'll let you two discuss this change, but I'm afraid we can not meet later this afternoon. I have some other things I have to attend to. Perhaps we can continue this tomorrow and hopefully have the basic deal drawn out by the day after."

"If you'll excuse us, we'll be going back to our room." Kikori said bowing, and exited the room, followed by Ranma.

"What was so earth shattering that you need to stop the negotiations," Kikori said exasperated, "You know that if we don't finish this soon, the tower has orders to send a small group in to see what is wrong!"

"I know, but those spells, they are all high level spells." Ranma replied, "And they are SHOWING them to us. These are the spells they use regularly in fights. Not to mention way they cast these spells and the source of these spells, it's like a mix of Channeler's magic and Spirit magic."

Kikori blinked, "So, you're saying that…"

"Unless the tower is hiding some lore from us, these are completely unknown to the tower. With this new way of casting, it might change the whole mage class system that the tower has right now!" Ranma exclaimed.

Kikori stared at Ranma, "So you're saying that with this lore, they might be able to pay for they're requested year of supplies WITHOUT them sending any help?"

"I'm saying that with this lore, they can pay for at LEAST twice that and still have some left over to buy few hundred acres of land." Ranma said seriously.

"Wow." Kikori said before sitting herself down onto the bed, "That's… something isn't it."

"This isn't what I was expecting." Ranma said pinching the bridge of his nose, "Why do things have to be so complicated."

"It's always complicated when your involved Ranma." Kikori said jokingly.

"Yeah, that is true isn't it?" Ranma replied with a grin.

* * *

"It is time, tonight we strike."

Few of Spice's choice warriors stood before him in his own chambers within the Musk citadel watching their leader intently, waiting for their orders.

"Tonight, my little brother will fall, teaching him the folly of ruining our Musk traditions for a fool's ambition." Spice continued, clenching his fist, barely controlling his own want for his own brother's destruction, "The two mages from the tower must be disposed of too. Your orders are this, two warriors will take care of the two mages while they sleep and the rest will be charged with killing Herb and his guards. You will strike out during the mid of night."

"As you command King Spice." The warriors said in unison, kneeling before the elder of the two dragon princes.

"I will not tolerate failure."

* * *

A light breeze blew across Ranma's face as he stared at the ceiling of the room given to him; he sighed and turned to his side with a tried look on his face. **Why am I getting the feeling that something is going to happen very soon?**

"I seriously think some god or goddess is out to get me." Ranma muttered darkly as he looked into the mirror in front of him, revealing a figure with a knife about to stab him, "Ya know, an assassination might work better if ya target don't know ya here."

Deftly rolling out of the way of the downward stab, Ranma quickly raised his hand and pointed his palm towards his would be assassin, "See ya, _I call upon the breath of a demon_."

Hundreds of needles made of wind ripped through the assassin and pushed him towards the wall of the room with its momentum, "I'm sure Herb would forgive me for killing an assassin." Ranma scratched his head sheepishly as he stared at the mess, "Wait… Kikori!"

Once more, raising his hand, pointing towards another wall, "_I call upon the weapon of Nature!_"

The wall in front of the pigtailed shattered revealing another assassin on top of his partner with a dagger ready to kill, "NO! _RELEASE!_"

The assassin is quickly batted aside revealing a very upset Priestess, "You know Ranma, you could've just nudged him a bit and he'll fall right down, you didn't have to break his neck in the process, I had him paralyzed."

Ranma shrugged, "Well, it didn't look too good from my point of view ya know."

"Well, you've just woken half of the people here with that yell of yours." Kikori pointed out as she pushed herself out of the bed, grimacing at sight of the dead Musk assassin.

"You shouldn't look in my room then." Ranma said absentmindedly, noticing Kikori's reaction, "Let's get out of here before more assassins come for us."

"Let's go then." Kikori grabbed her cloak and headed towards the door, but Ranma stopped her, holding onto her arm.

"This way," Ranma tilted his head towards the veranda, "trust me."

The priestess followed her partner dumbly and stared at him as he held out his arms.

"Well? Hop on." Ranma said exasperated.

"What exactly are you planning to do." Kikori said carefully, "You do realize that we are at least ten stories above ground."

Rolling his eyes, Ranma swooped Kikori up, "_Wings of angels, carry me._"

"You know, you could've just told me you are going to fly us out." Kikori said wiry, "I'm not a mind reader."

"Yeah, but it's more fun seeing your face when scooped you up." Ranma replied as he scanned below him for any Musk soldiers.

Kikori shook her head and began to scan behind them, "Hey Ranma, is that Herb being chased by some people I see back there?"

Ranma slowed down then turned around, "Hey, it is, wonder what he's doin' out here."

"Sometimes I worry about you Ranma." Kikori groaned, "What are you waiting for, go down and help!"

"Alright, pushy…" Ranma muttered as he descended, earning him a light slap to the head.

"Why did I ever stay partnered up with you when I KNOW you always get these missions." Kikori sighed.

"I dunno, my charmin' personality?" Ranma replied jokingly.

"Goddess…"

* * *

Herb growled another wave of 'assassins' appeared, trying to kill him as he flee his own castle, **This is getting extremely annoying** . The Dragon prince stopped and turned to face his would be killers with right hand next to his head, "_Drake Flare!_"

A red orb appeared in his hand before the dragon prince throws it towards his pursuers. The orb landed in the middle of the group before erupting into a pillar of fire, consuming all of them.

"And here I thought you'll need some help to take care of them faster."

Herb turned around to see the two Japanese mage just as they landed behind him, apparently, battle ready.

"By the way, was that dragon magic?" Ranma asked pointing at the scorched area.

"Yes, you didn't think my draconic appearance is just for show." Herb said wiry.

"Well…" Ranma trailed off scratching his head and chuckling nervously.

"Drake Flare is quite a powerful spell, although my brother has more control over it, usually, this unaltered version of Drake Flare should be able to take care of anything that comes in my way." Herb explained before he started walking towards the exit of the city, "We must be going, if my brother plans on killing us, he'll have more assassins that this. I just hope my retainers made it out."

Ranma and Kikori nodded in agreement, "The soldiers in the outer ring of the city, wouldn't they slow us down?" Ranma pointed out as they walked towards the gate.

"The city is made to keep people out, not in, even if the soldiers did put up resistance, we should be able to escape from here before more of my brother's assassin comes for us." Herb said confidently, "I am sorry about having our negotiations come out like this."

Ranma snorted, "Don't worry 'bout it, all the missions I end up in ends up as a magic flinging fest or a frantic escape from some odd ball mage. Some god up there is after me, I'm almost sure of it."

Herb gave Ranma an odd stare.

"Don't mind him," Kikori said, slapping her partner's head as if to chastise him, "He's always like this when things go wrong. He loves situations like these."

Ranma huffed, "Not my fault I live for challenges."

The Dragon prince chuckled lightly, "Perhaps the gods up there just like you too much to give you the challenges that you seem to love so much."

The pigtailed mage blinked, "Hmm never thought of it THAT way before."

"We are out." Herb said suddenly, "Just down the stairs and we'll be free of the walls. It seems the guards won't give us any resistance either, or else they would have stopped us before we pass the gates."

"Herb!"

The trio turned back to see two teens running towards them, "Mint? Lime? You made it out!"

Lime panted, trying to catch his breath while Mint nodded, "What's happening Herb? One moment me and Lime were sleeping, and then some guys were trying to kill us. Is this another one of your tests?"

Herb shook his head, "No, it seems my brother is trying to secure his place in the throne by killing me."

Mint scratched his head, "Huh? But why would he do that?"

"Just follow me." Herb growled, "Were you followed?"

"Umm." Mint scratched his head, "I'm not sure, hey Lime, were we followed?"

Lime stood up and looked at Mint, "I thought YOU were watching our back!"

"No, I remember telling YOU to watch our back." Mint countered.

"Imbeciles." Herb growled again before coughing into his fist to gain the two Musk's attention, "Doesn't matter, we must get out of here."

The two stopped arguing and nodded, "Say, who are those two?"

Mint blinked and turned towards the two mages Lime pointed out, "Oh, how come I didn't see you two? Are you guys trying to kill us too?"

Herb slapped his forehead in frustration.

"Your retainers Herb?" Ranma asked, barely holding in his laughter.

"Quite." Herb replied massaging his temples, "Musk teens always are a bit air headed once they hit puberty. I'm just glad I don't have to go through that."

Kikori nodded, "I wonder why that is though?"

Lime and Mint's eyes widen at hearing Kikori's voice, "Are you… a… a GIRL!"

Kikori blinked in shock, "Umm… Yes…"

The two Musk teens gasped and studied Kikori intently.

"Lime, Mint, this is REALLY not the time." Herb muttered before dragging his two retainers down the stairs to the outer walls of the Musk city.

Ranma looked at his partner, "Interestin' people, aren't they…"

Kikori nodded dumbly, "Yeah, and here I thought you and Ryouga are the two most clueless guys I know when it comes to girls."

"I am not…"

The priestess game her partner a skeptical look, "If you say so…"

* * *

Ranma glanced behind him once again as he felt a chill down his spine, "Hey, I REALLY think there is someone followin' us…"

"If you can't pin point the, we can't really do anything about it." Herb replied and concentrated behind the group, "Spice trains his trackers well."

"I can find them for you Herb." Mint said seriously, "Just give me the word."

"No need," Herb replied, "They will come to us. If I know my brother, then he'll want to kill us before we exit the city. He's just giving us a false sense of security."

"Why before we leave?" Kikori asked, "What would that do?"

"To have me killed within the walls of the Musk city will show the people that I am weak." Herb explained, "To be killed in your own city would show everyone that knows that you are weak."

"What about the guards?" Ranma asked pointing towards the outer wall, "Won't they try to stop them?"

"Our guards won't harm any Musk unless there is an official dissention splitting the people into two." The dragon prince sighed, "Since me and my brother's feud is just that, a 'harmless' feud and it isn't official, the guards won't do anything. Spice knows that if he were to declare a feud while I am on the throne, even if it's temporary, he and his followers would be kicked out."

"Herb, we're surrounded…" Mint said suddenly, staring at the slope beside the stairs they walk on.

"Spice trains his trackers a bit TOO well…" Herb muttered irritable, "I've used up too much energy to cast more than one more Drake Flare."

Ranma's eyes widen, "You don't seem too winded to me."

"Showing weakness is not an option for a Musk royalty." Herb replied coolly, "I hope you have something to help us escape."

Ranma frowned, "I think I have somethin' up my sleeves."

Kikori rolled her eyes, "What's with the false modesty Ranma, I KNOW for a fact you have a spell for this."

The pigtailed mage grinned, "I can get us out, but when Herb says escape, he means escape without anyone tailin' us."

"Correct," Herb said as Spice's trackers slowly came into sight of the party. Lime and Mint immediately leapt to Herb's side.

"Herb can ya clear a path so that we can exit the city." Ranma said licking his lips with anticipation.

"Easily done."

"Kikori, go with Herb's retainers and help them, Herb can you clear the path on my signal please." Ranma let out a breath as the trackers closed in on them.

"What plan do you have mage?" Herb muttered as he prepared his spell.

"Now!"

"_Flame Tougue!_" A line of fire spewed out of Herb's out stretched hands, incinerating the Trackers in front of him.

"Get out of here, I'll take care of the rest!" Ranma yelled as he leaped out of the way of a diving Tracker, hoping to impale him with a dagger, "_Wings of Angels, carry me._"

Ranma quickly flied towards the outer wall and landed on it and pointed both his palms at the group of Trackers chasing the others on the stairs. "I hope Herb won't be too mad at me destroying the stairs. _Angry winds of endless flows, come forth from hell and show the mortals of your demonic might!_"

* * *

Kikori stopped the group at the gate, "I think I know what Ranma is doing. I need to set up a barrier so those Trackers won't get pass the gate."

The three Musk gave the Priestess a questioning glance, "Just trust us, we know what we're doing." Pulling out her necklace, Kikori held it out in front of her face, "_Oh Goddess of Healing, lend us thy strength, heed my plea. Protect us from harm; separate us from those who go against your power!_"

A blue wall flickered into existence in front of the pursuing group, making few of them slam into the magical barrier. Kikori's knees buckled as they slammed into the barrier, "You Musk are too strong for your own good. I don't think I've ever felt so drained from a physical hit at my barrier."

"Well, we ARE Musk." Herb said matter of factly before hearing a loud boom. Turning this attention back up, he watched the Trackers suddenly catch on fire and slam into the stairs below them, "What in the name of Dragons is THAT."

"A little spell I like to use against mobs." A winded Ranma replied as he jumps down from the wall, "Draining, but effective. Sorry about the stairs by the way, but I don't think you'd appreciate me destroying the city and the castle instead."

The three Musk stared at the aftermath of the spell, a crater, just wide enough to cover the width of the stare with ten burning corpses laying in it, the slopes beside the stairs remained untouched, but the boom has caused a few loose rocks from the two mountains beside the stair to roll down.

"Even more destructive than my Drake Flare spell," Herb muttered in awe, "but from the looks of it, it drains you more than it's worth."

Ranma shrugged, "Well, it usually finishes the job, so I'm not complainin'. Let's get out of here, I'm sure we can get to neutral grounds and get some rest and decide what we should do tomorrow."

Everyone nodded and stepped out of the Musk city.

* * *

"I can't believe they sleep on trees." Kikori said, sitting on the ground with her back against a tree, looking at their companions as they get themselves ready to retire for the night.

"I can't believe they can jump that high." Ranma muttered jealously, taking note on where the three Musks are sleeping, at the top of the trees.

"Is that a note of jealousy I hear?" Kikori teased before wrapping her cloak more tightly around her.

Ranma snorted, "Ya look really tired when we left the city, are those Musk really THAT strong, I mean they just slammed into your barrier, it's not they were throwin' magic spells at ya."

"Don't change the subject," Kikori scowled, "and yes, they ARE that strong."

Ranma gave an appreciative whistle, "That some muscle power."

"Ranma…"

Ranma sighed, "Ok ok, I wish I can do that, and yes I'm jealous happy!"

Kikori blinked in surprise, "Never expected you to admit it."

"Yeah well…" Ranma sighed and lied down on the ground with his cloak on top of him, "I always wanted ta touch the sky with my own power ya know. Bein' able to jump like that must me nice."

Kikori nodded, "I can't believe we are doing this again, sleeping outside without a tent or even a sleeping bag."

Ranma shook his head, "I forgot to pack them, wasn't expecting us ta be in a situation like this. I thought we'd be in a dungeon or something'. Not bein' chased out like some fugitive."

"Glad to see you're as optimistic as ever Ranma." Kikori replied closing her eyes, trying to fall asleep.

Ranma looked at the priestess and sighed. Taking his cloak he folded it in half a few times and handed it to her, "Use my cloak as a pillow, or else you'll never fall asleep."

Kikori blushed and took the cloak, "Thanks."

"Good night."

"Night Rammie."

* * *

"Yum, roasted rabbit on an open fire," Ranma said, watching the rabbits that Mint and Lime has caught on a stick beside a camp fire, "When was the last time we had something like this Kikori?"

"That would be the time you ate all of our supplies." Kikori said coolly, "And I still haven't forgiven you for that."

"It wasn't MY fault!" Ranma whined, "That jerk channeler did that to me!"

"Mint, Lime, stop staring at the priestess." Herb growled dangerously as he tries to stop his retainers from staring.

"But Herb, a GIRL!" Mint said, ignoring the order from Herb.

Kikori sweatdropped, "Can you please stop staring."

"Who woulda thought a prissy priestess like you would have admirers." Ranma said teasingly.

"Who asked you." Kikori huffed angrily.

"C-can I t-touch your breasts." Lime swallowed nervously.

"WHAT!"

"Lime, I heard you're supposed to date them before you can do that." Mint said slowly and stopped his partner in mid-reach towards Kikori's breasts.

"Date? What's that?"

"I think it's having tea with them or something."

"But what about this one night stand I keep hearing about."

Mint scratched his head, "Maybe we need a night stand to touch her breasts."

"But we don't have a night stand, so do we have to drink tea with her first?"

Mint's eyes lit up, "That must be it! D-do you w-want to have t-tea with me."

"NO!" Kikori yelled, a blush lit up her face.

"Interesting retainers you have Herb." Ranma said laughing at the scene.

"My councilor thought that I would learn to govern people if I can control these two," Herb replied, with a twitch in his eyes, "apparently, if I manage to get these two imbeciles to stop acting like idiots, I can govern anything."

"If anyone manages to get these two ta stop actin' like that before the end of puberty, I'd beg for him to teach me." Ranma replied still laughing.

"Us Musk do not have a time limit for puberty," Herb said sighing tiredly, "You must first consummate with a female before puberty stops."

"Ya mean you'll just keep havin' growth spurts until ya have SEX with someone?" Ranma said bewildered.

"Yes, apparently, we have something in us that keeps us growing, of course there is a limit as to how much we can grow, but everything else that puberty gives, such as development of sex traits, voice changing, keeps happening until you engage in intercourse." Herb answered, "Of course, usually Musk men will go into heat and will most likely have sex at the age of eighteen or nineteen, and the villages surrounding our city have lots of candidates that are willing…"

Ranma clutched his head, "Wow, gives the sayin', 'Makin' a man outta ya' a whole new meaning…"

"I'm glad the dragon lines don't need to suffer through this." Herb said with a relief sigh.

Ranma nodded and watched Mint and Lime make fools out of themselves, "So is this weird air head thing they have a part of Musk puberty or something?"

"Well, if it is, then I'll have to wait till they're eighteen before I can stop enduring this. But one way or another, they'll snap out of it." Herb sighed, "Stop trying to force to the priestess to drink tea Lime!"

"But how am I supposed to touch her breast!" Lime whined.

"How do ya figure that?" Ranma said chuckling at the expense of his partner.

"Well, when they actually have sex, it'll snap them out of it anyways." Herb said wiry, "That is if it doesn't break their mind first."

"Win-win situation huh?"

"Quite."

* * *

First order of business, I'd like to thank my brand new pre-readers! (Yay, new new new! It's like a new car, only less expensive, well, actually I don't pay them… well, actually, it's not like a new car, but still…) Without them, this chapter that you read will be filled with errors that are so horrific you would die just from seeing them, I should ask them for their names… 'cause I'm too lazy to type out they're e-mail O,o. Secondly, I'm sorry about the delayed update, trying to find a job sucks. And lastly… well that's it really.

For those of you who is curious about that spell Ranma casted at the end. That's one of his big fours, yep you heard me, he wasted one of his best moves on a bunch of faceless characters! How does it work you ask? Just read on

**Omake** Magic Lessons with…. **Omake**

"Yo, this is Ranma Saotome, no the wussy one from this fic, but the REAL one."

"I am NOT a wuss!" Ranma, wearing a black cloak walks out with a green ball of magic floating on his hands.

"HA! You can't even beat five of those faceless goons without being winded, you're a wuss if I ever saw one!"

Fic-Ranma growled, "I'll show you wuss, _Angry winds of endless flows, come forth from hell and show the mortals of your demonic migh!_"

"WAH!"

BLAMMO!

"Anyways," Fic-Ranma continued, "The writer guy wanted me to explain how that spell works, because apparently he doesn't know how it works either so I'm stuck with tell you people how it goes."

"Mouko Takabisha!"

BOOM!

"This is MY section you already have your turn in the fic!" The real Ranma growled, "So where was I? Oh yeah, ya see, that weird spell does, err. DAMNIT! I lost that piece of paper I'm suppose ta read off of!"

"_Wind, you are the weapon of DEATH!_"

Whoosh!

"Idiot, can't even just talk without screwing up." Fic-Ranma muttered, "Anyways, basically that spell just makes the molecules in the air move at super sonic speeds. The fire that suddenly appear on those people's body is just due to the friction of the molecules and their clothes. Feh, I can't believe HE needs a piece of paper to remember that."

"Hey bro, hate to break it to you, but you DID make up that spell, or at least the story you did." Saiko said, off stage.

"Oh shut up. Oof." Fic-Ranma replied before being tackled by the real Ranma.

"That's IT! You almost cut off my pigtail!" Real-Ranma growled, "You are SO going down now, I don't care if you're me!"

"Your hair? I was going for ya head," Fic-Ranma replied, "And I'd like to see you try to take me down ya dumbass!"

"DIE!"

"DIE!"

"I told you not to invite the Real Ranma for the extra script guy, but NO, you won't listen to me." Ryoga said shaking his head.

"Well, EXCUSE me."

BOOM!

"There goes the stage…" Kikori said, blinking, "So tell me, who's my boyfriend and who's the guest star?"

"Just look the one flinging magic spells." Shampoo said, "The green balls I mean, not the blue ones."

**Omake **End **Omake**

Hmm, that was weird…

Anyways, reviews of any type is welcomed. Real cash is also welcomed, just email me and I'll send you my address, and of course if you want to give me a flat screen TV 23" preferably, I'll love you forever


	21. Chapter 21

"We should head back to the tower, this is not part of our mission." Ranma said reluctantly as Kikori and himself sat on the roots of a tree, "I know you don't like to get involved in stuff like these."

"Ranma... this isn't like you." Kikori said shaking her head, "I'd thought you'd jump at the chance of fighting the Musk."

"This isn't our fight," Ranma said again, keeping a straight face, "even if we did help him, we're only two, he's about to fight a war."

Kikori turned away and stared at the ground in front of her, "A lot of people will die..."

"Yeah..."

"There has to be a way to stop it, or end it quickly." Kikori frowned in concentration.

Ranma sighed as he watched his partner in deep thought, "Look Kiko-"

"No YOU look," Kikori interrupted glaring at the pigtailed mage, "If a civil war starts, a lot of people will die, there will be kids, like us, losing their parents! There will be more orphans! I won't allow it!"

Ranma blinked and backed up slightly at the intensity of Kikori. The two sat silently, staring at each other underneath the tree, unmoving, trying to make the other back away from their point of view.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

The two mages jumped and turned towards the source of the voice. Herb raised an eyebrow, "I'm just here to ask when you are going to return to the tower. When you are, I will send with you a message to tell them that if I win, I will send a messenger to continue the negotiations."

"That wou-"

A cry of a pigeon stopped Ranma in mid-sentence. The three looked upwards to see the pigeon swoop down and land on Herb's shoulder.

"One of the wolf clan's messenger pigeons, what is it doing here." Herb muttered as he removed the small roll of paper around the pigeon's left leg.

"What is it?" Kikori asked anxiously.

"This is not good..."

* * *

Act: 1 Chapter: 21

A Priestess' Tear...

* * *

"Today, we will uphold the heritage that is Musk." Spice bellowed as the restless Musk soldiers listened below the balcony in which he stood, "Today, we will put the end the blasphemy that my father and my brother have tried to infect our proud nation with. Today we will once again embrace our warrior heritage! So go forth, let the creatures of Jusendo once again know the fear of Musk!"

Cheers echoed in Spice's ears as spears and swords are raised into the air by the soldiers below him. **Yes, we will be reborn again, let all that comes between the Musk die a quick painful death**.

* * *

"Why are we doing this?"

"Our king orders it! It will be a great honor!"

"Bah, all we're going to do is slaughter defenseless villagers, what's so great about that!"

"The amazons are going to attack us if this goes on, are we going to risk our lives and leave our families again just to fight?"

"Coward! You should live the fight! It is the way of the Musk!"

Song sighed as his ears twitched irritably, **I hope the pigeons that we sent out has reached King Herb. Even if half of us don't agree with what is happening, we can't rebel against the king. Not without another valid leader anyways, and all the soldiers with a flag is all for Spice's idea. This is going to be bloody...**

* * *

"Geez, why am I doing this again?" Ranma huffed as she brushed aside the few red strands of hair from obscuring her view, "Can't believe Lime and Mint actually had the nerve to hit on me."

Kikori giggled, "Well, you DO make a cute girl you know."

Ranma looked down and grimiced at the choice of clothes the villagers have given her, "I really hate this skirt and shirt. Can't they at least dye it all black, brown isn't really my color."

The priestess gave her now female partner a once over, "Well, at least it looks good on you, unlike me. I still can't believe they gave YOU the skirt..."

Ranma chuckled, "I'd have to agree, brown burlap doesn't fit you. I guess we should be thankful they have extra clothes to spare, I mean, this village isn't exactly the richest village around."

"I know what you mean." Kikori whispered as she glanced around the village. "I still don't understand why Herb told the entire villager about the planned raid, it would be better if we just stopped it before it happened."

"Politics," Ranma replied, "Something about doing that is suppose to be bad and will put Herb in a position where he can't get onto the throne again."

"All matters aside I hope this plan works." Kikori muttered grasping her necklace, "There's already too much pain here."

"It's almost time, I think we should head towards the western entrance of the village, if what the message said was right, they should be entering from there." Ranma frowned and headed towards that direction, "We shouldn't even be doing this..."

Kikori gave Ranma a glare, "Don't you ever say that again."

"I thought you're always complaining about us getting into situations like these."

"My father and mother gave their life trying to save these people, I don't intend to cheapen their death by not doing anything." Kikori stomped off leaving a stunned Ranma behind.

"Kikori..."

* * *

"Herb, the raiding party is about to attack the village." Mint said kneeling in front of the dragon price, "Your orders?"

"We will wait for the two mage's barriers, then we will proceed according to plan." Herb replied coolly, "If we don't stop my brother here, there won't be another chance as good as this to stop him."

"They are coming!" Lime hissed.

"Lime, stay here with me, Mint, I want you to sneak to the other side of the main street." Herb commanded, "Don't let anyone see you."

"As you will."

"Then, let the battle be met..." Herb muttered.

* * *

"Just like the message said," Ranma smiled, "well, lets give them a surprise road block shall we?"

"With pleasure," Kikori gave a small smirk before washing away all expression from her face and falling into deep concentration.

"_I call forth, the barrier of souls!_" Ranma muttered, the air in front of the two mages flickered slightly, "Here they come."

"Ready."

The battle cries of the Musk soldiers suddenly filled the air. The villagers all froze at the battle cries that sounded more like a stampede of assorted animals about to crash through the village. The two mages braced themselves for the impact of the Musk raiders against the barriers that they have created.

"Pillage everything!"

"Burn everything! Kill all that comes in our way!"

"For King Spic- urk!"

Both of the mages fell to their knees at the force of the soldiers charging into the barriers. Without warning, Lime and Mint both charged out from hiding and stopped behind the raiding party, both of them with a one hand glowing in magic and the other, holding a sword.

"Musk raiding party!" Herb yelled from the side of the road holding a glowing red ball of magic on the palm of his hands, "You are trapped and at my mercy. I will let you live, if you go back now and give my brother this message: stop the raids, or else."

All the musk glanced at each other as the leader of the party was crushed between the barrier and his own men, "We will retreat and take your message with us..."

* * *

"Well, that went well." Ranma grinned, "But I still don't get why I had to change into a girl."

Herb nodded, "You needed to change because the raiding party will notice you and Kikori if you were to wear your own clothes, they will know something is amiss. That and I am curious as to what your curse is when Song informed me of it."

"And here I thought there was some hyper sense that I will avoid if I changed to a girl," Ranma muttered, "Just when I thought the curse is useful."

Kikori laughed softly from where she laid, "Well at least the plan went off without a hitch."

"Go to sleep Kikori." Ranma said drawing his cloak over his partner's shoulders, "You'll need the rest after stopping THAT much Musk from charging through your barrier, even I felt it and I set up mine behind yours."

"I'm not frail Ranma." Kikori fumed before letting out a yawn.

"But you still need your rest. Plus, it's late, I think we'll need all our energy for tomorrow."

"Fine..."

Herb chucked, "Well, now that I've basically declared war on my breathen, I need to regain my sigil flag to rally the people that still follow me to my side."

Ranma blinked, "What don you mean? Can't you just, you know, go in and tell the people that follow you to... well... follow you?"

"It's not exactly that simple," Herb sighed, "There are laws that prevent minor uprisings but that same law is preventing me from dethroning my own brother..."

* * *

Stone wall on all four sides, without an exit. The only way out, a single piece of rope that is lowered on the command of Spice. Things didn't look good for Song as he kept a neutral expression on his battered face and glanced around 'The Pit'.

"What do you hope to accomplish by assisting my brother, Song of the tracker wolf clan." Spice growled, "Because of your actions, twelve of our brethren has fallen and our raid was stopped by five, FIVE people!"

"I do what I must for the good of the Musk." The wolf like man replied earning him a punch to the gut.

"I'll decide what is good for our people." The Dragon-man growled, flaring his nostrils, "Where is my brother."

"I don't know."

Spice roared and picked Song up by the collar of his shirt, "Where is my BROTHER!"

"I sent all our messenger pigeons in all directions in hopes that one has reached him," Song grimaced, biting back the urge to spit at the man in front of him, "I have no idea where he."

"Useless fool!" Spice flings Song as if he is nothing but a baby, creating a dent in the stone wall where Song had hit, "For this offense, death is your punishment."

Song gripped on to his arm where it hit the wall, gritting his teeth and ignoring the pain that shot through his whole body, he stood up and stared the dragon prince down, "Then know this, I would rather die than to watch as you destroy the Musk."

Spice cackled suddenly, throwing his head back, "You still... heh... you still believe that my brother can overthrow me? You insolent fool, my brother is without his sigil flag, while I hold all to with me on top of the castle in which I reside. Do you really think that Herb can manage to take the sigil flag from me. Only with it can he over throw me and he can NEVER touch it again!"

Song growled, bearing his teeth, "You forget SPICE, your brother is the stronger of the two of you, he WILL defeat you..."

The dragon prince stiffen, his left eyes twitched sporadically as he tighten the grip of his fist, making poping sound, "He... is... NOT... my BETTER!"

Song didn't feel a thing; he was already numb with all the pain already dealt to him by Spice even before his 'interrogation'. All he felt was the weightless feeling as he sailed towards the stone wall of the pit and the fear the suddenly felt as he stared into Spice's eyes...

**Red... the bloody beast as taken over...**

All Song can do is pray for the last few seconds of his life for the safety of his people.

He never finished his prayer...

* * *

"That is either the most ingenious thing I've ever heard, or the stupidest... I can't deicide." Ranma muttered as he ate another roasted bird that Mint has captured early in the morning.

Kikori sighed, "I guess it makes a lot of sense since it WOULD basically stop a lot of uprisings from the general populace, but wouldn't that make an even bigger gap between the royalty and the normal people?"

"The sigil flag isn't a symbol of royalty as the two of you seem to think," Herb replied absently while chewing on his own roasted bird, "It's actually a sign that states you have your whole clan backing you up no matter what the situation is. The holder of flag is usually given it by the members of his own clan freely, not earned through some trials or voting by other people. Of course, my own flag is different. I inherited the flag from my father when I reached my tenth year."

"So basically, at the age of ten, your father gave you partial control of the Musk people by giving you this sigil flag?" Kikori frowned.

"To an extent, yes," Herb sighed, "But how I got it doesn't matter, the problem right now is that I don't have the flag with me, so I can not rally the men that is with me to my side, even if I did try, they would not join me because of the law."

"That sucks..." Ranma commented, throwing away the bones of his breakfast, "So I guess you'll need to get that sigil flag of yours right?"

"Yes... I would." Herb muttered, "Ah, I can not, in good conscious ask the two of you to help us. You have already helped more than necessary, I believe it is time that the two of you went back to your tower."

Ranma opened his mouth to reply, only to be stopped by Kikori, who is tugging at his sleeve, "We need to talk Ranma..."

The pig-tailed mage frowned, "But..."

"...please..."

* * *

"What is it Ki-chan..." Ranma said softly, "We have to go back to the tower and give our report."

"stay... please..." Kikori said softly hanging her head. Her hair slid forward, covering her face. She reached out to Ranma's sleeves and gripped onto it with strength that Ranma had never seen.

"Why?"

The priestess shook her head, "I have to... do this..."

"Kikori, don't be unreasonable, we've finished our mission, let's go home." Ranma wrapped his arms around her shoulder, "You're the one who's always complaining about our mission always screwing up."

"It's different this time..." Kikori murmured.

"It's because of your parents isn't it?"

Ranma watched as his partner lifted her head to face his once again. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she stared into his own with her blurred eyes, "It's NOT about my parents! It's not angry drunks chasing us, or corrupted mages trying to take down the tower. Spice is trying to kill off villagers around the Musk city just for things he already has. Parents will die! There will be more kids like us. I don't want to see kids here turn into the ones in the tower... they all look so... so..."

"I know what you mean..." Ranma sighed. Using his free hand, he wiped off the tears from his partner's face, "Go figure, the one time I'm not getting us into trouble, you'll have to feel obligated to do it for me..."

Kikori giggled, "I'm sorry Rammie..."

"You're the family that I had for most of my life." Ranma said quietly, "In a sense, your like a little sister to me."

"I'm older than you Ranma."

"Feh, by two whole months, whoop dee do, like that would make much of a difference."

"I'm also much more mature than you are, according to many other people..."

"Oh shut up."

"You just can't accept the truth!"

"Lalalala, I can't hear you..."

* * *

"We're helping you whether you like it or not Herb." Ranma said plainly as they reached the camp site again, "You'll need all the help you can get."

"But-"

Ranma grinned, "Hey, your brother tried to assassinate us ya know. It's a matter of principles ya know, can't have people try to kill me and Kikori and let them get away with it."

"I've sent Fudari with a message to the Amazons," Kikori said with a small smile, "They would get the message by late afternoon."

"Ha! About time the stupid bird earned it's keep." Ranma snorted, "It's not like it did anything for us."

SCREECH!

Ranma's eyes twitched, "I thought you send you sent it away already,"

Kikori blinked, "Yes I did, I guess Fudari was getting her bearings..."

Herb chuckled as the eagle chased Ranma around in circles trying to claw his eyes out, "Doesn't your eagle have a message to send?"

"Fudi! Stop that! Go deliver the message!" Kikori ordered.

Ranma growled again as he watched the eagle fly away, "Stupid bird..."

* * *

Herb massaged his head as he tries desperately to find a way to get his flag, "This is impossible. There's no way for me, or even Mint to sneak in and a direct confrontation is suicide..."

Kikori looked around biting her lips, as if trying to decide if they should do something or not, "There might be a way..." Kikori said uncertainly, "But it won't give you a lot of time to go into your castle and get the flag."

The three musk men turned towards the priestess, "Any chance is better than no chance."

"Well... you know how the barrier I can erect can withstand any force as long as my will holds right?" Kikori started, "I've been working on a way to direct it so that it will only block a small area so that is more concentrated, therefore, giving me, theoretically, half of the stress I would normally experience."  
  
"Then you can hold your shield for an indefinite amount of time!" Herb said excitedly.

"Yes, but it takes too much concentration to actually direct the barrier, so while I can do this, I won't be able to see the attacks coming my way..." The priestess sighed, "It's stupid, I don't even know why I said that..."

"No wait." Ranma said suddenly after being silent for the whole discussion, "I can help guide how you move your barrier..."

"Ranma?"

"From the text that Herb showed me, I know I can guild your magic as if it is my own, as long as you filtered it through your body already." Ranma said cautiously, "But I don't know how I would go about it."

Herb raised his eyebrows, "You got that just from reading some of the basic magic text that I've given you?"

Ranma nodded, "From what I saw from your text, you don't treat the different types of magic, which our tower has grouped, differently. Rather, it's all mixed together. So if I know how, I might be able to guild the barrier to the place that it's needed."

Herb nodded, "You can try, but I must warn you, the power of the gods are not to be fooled around with. From what I heard of Kikori's incantations, she is a channel of her goddess's powers. Be careful when you try."

"I don't think you should try this Ranma." Kikori whispered, "It's not common knowledge, but a lot of mages has be seriously injured when they tried to use some of the priest spells. I heard from my teacher, a student of hers died trying to cast a minor healing spell, just because she was over confident."

"Don't worry," Ranma said confidently, "I've been on the receiving end of a battle priest's spell, I know how much power a priest spell has. From what I'm told, you feel as much stress from the spell as the power of the spell. So if I can take an offensive priest spell, I'm sure I can handle your spells."

Kikori nodded, "If you say so."

The four men watched as Kikori closed her eyes and started to murmur quietly, before long, a small blue circle appeared in front of her, "This is it. Try punching it Herb, don't hold back, even if I'm not strong enough to take a hit, the shield will block it and won't harm me."

The dragon prince nodded and exhaled, mystical flames surround his fist as he charged and threw a haymaking at the small blue circle. The small magical barrier flared and knocked back Herb leaving him with a stunned expression.

"When are you going to punch?" Kikori said with her eyes still closed.

Herb's eyes twitched, "I don't know if I should be insulted or be glad..."

Ranma chuckled, "Hey Kikori, can you make more than one of those?"

A nod was the reply and another circle appeared, but now each of them are not glowing as strongly, "Well Herb, redeem yourself, punch again." Ranma said jokingly.

The dragon prince eyed the circles cautiously, "Maybe Lime should punch it this time..."

The tiger man blinked and pointed to himself, "Me? But I can't hit girls!"

"It's an order Lime, just do it!"

"Yes sir..." Lime said dejectedly as he charged up for his punch. The punch connected and Kikori only winced slightly.

"Are you guys holding back?" Kikori said, annoyed.

"Trust me Kikori when I say we're not." Ranma said, chuckling as he watch Lime nurse his fist, "Well, let me try to move the barriers now. Just try to guide the energy to go through me and THEN make the barrier instead of just making the barrier."

Ranma moved in front of Kikori and steeled himself for a huge headache, "Ok, do it now."

Ranma's face suddenly twisted in agony as he clutched his head, "Argh."

"Ranma!" The three musk yelled, seeing the pigtailed mage fall to his knees.

"Keep going!" Ranma growled and slowly opened his eyes. **This is incredible. Even when the priest's spell hit me I didn't feel as much strain. And that priest is suppose to be Zandia sensei's regular training partner! You don't train with Zandia unless your magic output is at least twice as much as her. But what Kikori is pull out, this is even MORE powerful than that priest that hit me. How...**

"Are you ok Ranma." Kikori said with her eyes still closed.

"Ye-yeah..."

"Perhaps Lime can do this instead Ranma." Herb suggested, "We Musk have a higher tolerance to magic compared to others."

"It's ok..." Ranma muttered as directs the small barriers around, "Yeah... I can do this... just need to get used to the strain..."

"Priestess, I think you can stop now." Herb said, "Ranma can control your barriers, but I think we'll need more time to prepare for our plan."

Kikori nodded and opened her eyes to see Ranma suddenly slump down on the ground unconscious, "RANMA!"

"He tried to control too much," Herb said calmly, "He just strained himself too hard. It'll be a while before he will wake up. In the mean time, why don't we figure out a plan of attack?"

* * *

Herb let out a long, slow breath as the small group hide in the forest surrounding the Musk city, "It's now or never, the guards are changing shifts now."

Ranma nodded, "Ok, so basically, we just charge in, ignore everyone that tries to stop us until we reach the final gate, then you and Mint will rush in while me, Kikori, and Lime hold of the troops."

Herb just grunted and rushed forward, quickly followed by his two retainers, "If you don't go now, we'll just get left behind Ranma."

The pigtailed mage sighed, "Come on, it's not like we've never faced odds like these."

Kikori smiled as she rushed forward with Ranma, "I hope you've been working out, because you'll be carrying me like the last time we did something like this."

Ranma just grunted as he caught up with the three Musk warriors as they batted away the defending Musk soldiers with annoying ease. Ranma ran up the stairs positioning himself in between Lime and Mint while guarded the flank for Herb as the prince charged up the stairs flinging flame from this hands making the defenders leap for cover.

"Herb! First gate is coming up! I see a defense line set up there." Mint yelled.

"It'll take too long to fight our way through." Lime growled as he assessed the amount of people blocking their way.

"Just leave it to me." Ranma smirked and handed Kikori over to the Lime, "Hold her for me, they first gate will be down in no time."

Ranma leaped into the air and green wings of magic suddenly sprung out from his back. He swooped down quickly, avoiding arrows and spells alike from the defenders, twisting and turning all the while chanting his spell. "_Furies of wind, nature's howl. Gather between my unworthy hands and let me guide your righteous fury to pierce through the hearts of those undeserving of your gifts!_"

A ball of green magic, the size of a beach ball, appears on top of Ranma's palm just as he landed in front of the gate of the outer circle. With an unsaid signal, thousands of light green beams shot out of the ball of magic, tearing through and gate and hitting every Musk soldier, who is standing behind the gate, in the head, knocking them all out. The ball of magic continues spewing out beams as it shrunk with every beam that is shot forward until it disappeared. "The path is clear."

Herb just nodded and rushed past Ranma, who followed quickly leaving Lime to continue carrying Kikori.

"Wow, what is that..." Lime said, for once, not distracted by breasts.

"That is Ranma's second most powerful spell, or so he claims." Kikori said glancing wearily at the fallen Musk defenders, "Are they dead?"

"No, I'm not sure about the ones Ranma got, but the ones Me, Mint, and Prince Herb got are just knocked out." Lime said confidently as he squatted away a brave defender trying to attack Lime from the side, "We're just trying to get Herb's flag, not slaughter our own soldiers."

"It's no good, we can't fight our way up anymore!" Kikori heard Ranma shout, "Herb, just go with Mint to the castle and get your flag! We'll hold these guys here!"

**Well, time to start casting...** Kikori closed her eyes and whispered softly to her goddess. "_Let the weary be soothed of their burden, numb all sensation. Let the bliss of unknowing be know to them. Let those that yearn for rest, rest in the bliss of numbness that you shall grant them. Oh goddess of healing, grant the weary their wish._"

"Well, looks like we're going to make our stand here." Lime said stoically, "I hope you're ready."

Kikori nodded as she is put back on the ground by Lime. Taking a look around, all the fighting seems to have stopped for the moment as the Musk defenders surround the three intruders, "Ranma... you ready?"

Said mage just smiled, "I'm always ready for a good fight... lets just hope your parents will watch over us."

Kikori blinked and turned to the side of the stairs to find her parent's grave, "Right where my parents died..."

"Umm, not to sound bossy," Lime suddenly cut in, "But we're kinda surrounded by lots of people that are suppose to kill us, aren't we suppose to... you know... defend ourselves?"

The two Japanese mages smirked and spook in unison, "Who said we're not?"

"Huh?" Lime looked around him to find all the soldiers surrounding them move sluggishly, some even falling to the ground, "What happened to them?"

"Just a numbing spell," Kikori said, closing her eyes again, "It's going to last an hour, but the others that are not in the affect range of the spell is going to be here in any moment."

"Lime, stay around us," Ranma ordered, "If anyone gets within two steps of me and Kikori, knock them away; we'll take care of the rest."

Lime took a glance around them to find another wave of soldiers starting to charge at them. A wave of uncertainty washed over the Musk warrior abruptly, "If you say so..."

"Trust us..."

* * *

"Is Lime going to be all right?" Mint asked, worried for his friend, "He's going to be facing a whole Musk army."

"He'll be alright; he is one of the strongest in his clan." Herb replied, steeling his voice, and trying to convince himself of the same thing he said, "We are close, Mint, I want you to go get my flag, I'll distract my brother."

"But..."

"Go, it's time I end this feud between my brother and me." Herb jumped upwards towards a open window in the castle not bothering to see if Mint has followed his instructions. **I want to fight him... no... I NEED to fight him. Why? Why is my blood burning for my brother's death?**

Unknown to anyone, Herb's eyes glowed red for a short time before settling to it's original color, **It matters not, I need to stop Spice from killing innocent people just to satisfy his lust for power.**

Herb flared his personal aura, blatantly challenging his brother from the throne where is most likely is sitting. In response, the dragon prince is suddenly washed over by the feeling of his brother's aura. "I'm coming for you Spice. You won't turn our race into savages."

* * *

Mint walked silently towards his goal, the treasury. Despite being a flag of almost no worth other than political power, the flag is considered to be one of the most valuable treasures of the Musk. Carefully looking around a corner, and seeing no one, the wolf like retainer made a quick dash towards the end of the hall.

**This is it... the treasury** In front of the Mint is an enormous door made of platinum and gold with intricate patterns of all the animals found in the surrounding areas. Above all of the animals where four dragons, each with a different colored gem in the place of their eyes, ruby, sapphire, diamond, and amethyst.

Steeling himself, Mint pushed open the door and stared right into the room, only to find two empty flag holders surround by ceremonial swords of gold and silver and other riches Mint has never seen in his life.

But the fact remained: the flags where gone...

* * *

Herb pushed open the two great doors leading to the throne room to find his brother sitting on the throne with a smirk on his face, "I have come for your life brother."

Spice closed his eyes, his smirk never leaving his face, "So you have little brother, so you have."

"So why are you still sitting there? Or are you too afraid to face me with your miniscule power?" Herb taunted slowly focusing the energy around him for his spell casting, "STAND AND FIGHT ME!"

"Why would I need to do that when I hold this?" Spice grinned and held out a banner with a blue dragon claw embroiled on it, "What will you do without your precious sigil flag?"

Herb growled as his left brow twitched, "Hiding behind a flag, how cowardly of you. I thought you're planning to rule a pack of warriors, not a bunch of cowards."

"ENOUGH!" Spice roared. His eyes flashed blood red as he threw Herb's sigil flag aside, "I'll show you who's the weak coward here! _FLAME TONGUE!_"

"_Lizard scales._" Herb said calmly as he raised his hands against the stream of flames erupting from his brothers hands. The flames hit the invisible barrier and flowed around Herb harmlessly, "Is that all that you've got brother? Let me show you power, _DRAKE FLARE!_"

"This trick again?" Spice snorted and made a sweeping gesture with his left arm. The ball of red magic stopped in mid flight and dispersed silently, "You should have known better to use a spell as easy to dispel as that against me."

"_Flame tongue!_"

"_Flame tongue!_"

The two dragon princes both shot streams of fire towards each other. Just as the two lines were about to hit each other, the flames from Spice's hand suddenly start moving in a spiral pattern, stopping Herb's spell in it's tracks and effortlessly pushed it back towards Herb. The younger prince cursed and jumped out of the way of the spell before throwing couple of red balls of magic towards scoring a hit. The explosion filled the room with smoke.

"I thought you were smarter than that brother." Herb smirked, "Getting hit by a spell like that, it seems you have grown soft despite your want to be a 'warrior'."

"Heh, maybe it is YOU who has grown weak," Spice said from the middle of all the smoke, "That didn't even scratch me."

Herb gasped as the smoke faded. Spice's eyes glowed blood red, magic leaked from them creating a trail of red mist, "The blood beast... You've given in to the blood! BROTHER! Snap OUT of it!"

"You don't understand, magic flows through me like a raging stream. I can feel it crawling within my very being. It fills me with so much power!" Spice yelled in ecstasy, "Can you feel it! The power! This isn't a curse! This is our BLESSING!"

Herb took a step back, "I can't let you continue this way."

"Then so be it, I will have to kill you then." Spice grinned, "It will be my pleasure to send you to the after world."

Herb screamed as he was suddenly blasted with black flames that erupted from underneath him.

"The Demon Dragon Fire, one of the most lethal spells in our arsenal of spells," Spice said pleasantly as he watched his brother scream in agony, "let see how long you can last in there brother."

* * *

Lime threw another soldier away from his little group into the Musk spell casters when an explosion sounded behind them, "HERB!"

Ranma gritted his teeth from the strain and looked at the tiger man, "Go, if he dies, then what we're doing is useless."

Kikori opened her eyes, breaking the stream of magic flowing into Ranma for the shield, "We'll need to move to the gate Ranma; it's easier to defend against them there."  
  
"Don't worry, I'll get you two there before I go help Herb." Lime said before picking the two Japanese mages up and charged towards the walls of the inner circle.

"Heh, imagine that, we made it further than your parents." Ranma said as he threw a ball of magic towards the chasing Musk soldiers.

The priestess nodded as she erected a shield to prevent spells from reaching them, "Let's just hope we live long enough to celebrate this."

"Well, good luck you two," Lime said, setting the two mages on the ground, "I have to go."

"Good luck Lime." Kikori said without turning around, "Keep Herb alive no matter what."

"Well, start praying that we can keep ourselves alive out here." Ranma commented, "We'll need all the luck and whatever god or goddess's help we can get."

Kikori look a quick look at her partner to find him barely standing up steadily, "We made it this far... can't back down now."

Ranma glanced sideways quickly and grinned, "Well, Landal and gramps always say I'll be the end of both of us. So even if we didn't make it, at least I know I proved them wrong."

"It's been nice knowing you Rammie."

"You too Ki-chan, I don't know what I'll be doing without you."

The two mages steeled themselves as the first wave of soldiers poured through the open gate trying to over take them.

* * *

"Mint! What are you doing here!" Lime yelled when he met his partner as he ran towards the throne room.

"I couldn't find the flag in the treasury!" Mint replied, "Then I heard the explosion and thought Herb might need help."

Lime nodded, "Well we need to get Herb out of here first before we can try finding the flag again."

Mint nodded and signaled Lime to slow down, "Let me check what's going on in the room first. Don't want to charge into a bad situation and make it worst."

"Right."

The two stopped at the corner and snuck a peek into the room to find Herb laying on the floor of the throne room with smoke rising from his body. Spice stared down on the badly burnt body of his brother and cackled, "So close to your flag that would protect you from me, but you can never reach it! MWAHAHA! This is how weak you have become with your ways!"

Mint scanned the room and smiled, "Lime, you go help Herb, and I'll get the flag! It's just over there in the side of the room."

Lime looked at where Mint was pointing and nodded, "Ok, I'll go in first and you sneak in after?"

"Now, brother, DIE!"

"NO! HERB!" Lime yelled and delivered a punch towards Spice, who dodged it at the last second.

"Lime?" Herb muttered from where he is, "What are you doing here, run away."

"No way Herb! I took an oath to protect you, I won't let you die." Lime replied, staring at Spice, "You won't kill him!"

Spice sneered, "And why won't I? Because you're standing between us? That is a laugh."

Lime smirked, "No, because we've got the sigil flag, and as a Musk faction, we declare you unfit for ruling."

"WHAT!" Spice yelled and turned towards where he threw the flag only to find it gone.

"NOOO!"

* * *

Kikori knelt on the ground with Ranma, all bloody and burnt, in front of her as she desperately held onto the barrier spell. With an audible cracking noise, the blue barrier shattered. The priestess screamed in pain before falling on top of her partner, "I'm sorry Ranma, I should have never dragged you into this."

Spears surrounded her as darkness over took the priestess...

* * *

Not all my pre-readers have gone through this yet, so it's not fully pre-read, but since I haven't done anything for a while, I thought I'd post this up first and update it as my pre-readers finish doing their thing

Anyways, this chapter didn't turn out as I thought it would turn out. I was hoping for a chapter with a bit more action, (well comparatively I guess it has more than the other chapters) and a bit more jokes, but I ended up making a pretty serious chapter as general. I also realized that I suck at writing mass fight scenes

Sorry about the cliff hanger too I was planning a not so cliff hangy ending, but... well... sorry

**Omake** The not so impenetrable shield **Omake**

"Are you ok Ranma." Kikori said with her eyes still closed.

"Ye-yeah..."

"Perhaps Lime can do this instead Ranma." Herb suggested, "We Musk have a higher tolerance to magic compared to others."

"It's ok..." Ranma muttered as directs the small barriers around, "Yeah... I can do this... just need to get used to the strain..."

"Well lets see if the shield can hold through you." Herb suggested as he charged up for a punch.

Ranma nodded his head and braced himself for the punch.

WHAM!

Ranma flew back and hit the back of the set.

"Umm, Herb, your suppose to hit the blue circle, not Ranma's nose." Kikori said, a sweatdrop growing on the back of her head.

"Hum, quite right, quite right." Herb nodded seriously.

"DAMNIT! Ranma's out, I don't think he'll be waking up for a while."

"Umm, script guy, he's bleeding and it won't stop." Saiko said poking at her brother's head.

"I knew I shouldn't have written that scene."

**Omake** End **Omake**

Surprisingly, that scene was suppose to be in the final copy. But then, after thinking about it, I didn't think this Ranma can take a punch from Herb and actually survive so I took it out.


	22. Chapter 22

"Elder, we have received a message from the mages, Kikori Sekihara and Ranma Saotome."

Cologne looked up from her desk and signaled the messenger to give her the message, "Let's see what the two are up to this time."

The Amazon elder read the message silently before lifting her head to look at the messenger again, "How did you receive this?"

"An eagle Honored one."

"I see." Closing her eyes, Cologne massaged her temples, "Send for Mousse, I have an errand for him."

"Yes Honored one."

A few minutes later, with a shout of 'My Shampoo' and an extremely loud crack, Mousse flew into the room with a lump on his head, "I must insist Mousse, for your own health; stop chasing my great grand daughter."

"Elder." Mousse said quickly as he stood up and dusted himself.

"I have just received a message from Ranma and Kikori," Cologne stood up from her chair and walked around her desk, "They are staying with the Musk to help with a rather messy political situation. Knowing the Musk, there will probably going to be quite a big battle coming. I want you to go and assist them in anyway possible and try not to get mixed up in the war."

"But, how am I supposed to do that?" Mousse sputtered, "I can't exactly help a lot you know."

"All I require you are to keep those two alive," Cologne sighed, "Drag them away from the whole thing if you're required to."

"Can I at least get some help?" Mousse grumbled.

"WHERE ON EARTH AM I NOW!"

"EEK! PERVERT!"

SMASH CRUNCH SMACK

The Amazon elder sighed again and took small white bottle out of her sleeve, "Thank the Goddess for painkillers."

Mousse blinked and adjusted his glasses as he looked out of the window, "Who is that? I didn't know we have more Japanese mages visiting our village."

"That would be Ryouga Hibiki," Cologne replied, "He is a friend of Ranma's and he will also be your backup for this mission. Oh yes, if you want him as your back up, it would be wise to get him before he's either killed or gets lost again."

Mousse scratched his head and excused himself.

"Maybe I should send Shampoo too…" Cologne muttered, "Actually, that might make matters worst; after all, Shampoo, or any other Amazon, would probably pick fights with the Musk instead…"

* * *

Act: 1 Chapter: 22 

For my mind, For my heart, For my Past…

* * *

"Umm, Mousse right?" Ryouga said following the half blind Amazon. 

"Yes?"

"I know I'm suppose to help you and all that, Elder Cologne already explained it all to me," the lost boy said scratching his head, "but what exactly am I suppose to help you with?"

"We got a message from Ranma and Kikori saying that they are going to help the Musk deal with some political stuff or something like that, so the Elder is sending us to keep those two alive." Mousse explained as they walked through the forest towards Musk city.

"It's just political stuff right? It's not like there is going to be a fight or anything." Ryouga snorted, "Actually, with Ranma's luck, he's probably going to screw the whole thing up and get them stuck in a dungeon or something."

"Actually, Musk's version of 'political stuff' usually includes an all out slug fest and few large battles added into it." Mousse said off-handedly, "They ARE Musk after all."

Ryouga sweatdropped, "Just like those two to get into something like this, can't they stay out of trouble for just one mission?"

"We're almost at the border of Musk territory, be careful, we might walk right into a middle of a battle." Mousse said as he absently took inventory of his weapons.

"Oh man… my first mission in a whole month and it ends up being some major explosive fight that has a large chance of actually breaking most of my bones." Ryouga whined, "Come to think of it, this is the first official mission I had that teams me up with Ranma."

"The last mission I went on with him, I ended up laying in bed for a whole week and spending the next restocking my weapons." Mousse sighed, "I seriously doubt this mission will be better than the last."

The lost caller winced, "I hope you're wrong."

"Me too…

* * *

"…never dragged you into this." 

Ranma tried to move. Everything around him seemed to move sluggishly and blur slightly every time he moves. Looking down, he saw Kikori lying on top of him, totally exhausted. Clanking of armor surrounded him, flashes of light all around him as he looked up.

"No…" Ranma mouthed, but no sound came out, the spears over him came down, descending on the two. Slowly, blurry, all of the spears seemed like solid brown bars coming down on the two.

**I can't die, I won't die. Can't let her die, need to…

* * *

**

"KIKORI!"

Ranma shot up from his bed. His lips all dried up, sweat trailed down his face. He turned around to find a woman in her mid thirties sitting on the floor beside his bed, clutching her chest and breathing heavily, "Umm, sorry for scaring you."

The women blinked and spoke something in Chinese.

"I can't understand Chinese, sorry." Ranma said apologetically before letting himself fall onto his bed again. **Did that really happen?**

Painfully, Ranma lifted his hand, under his sheets, and felt across his stomach. Sharp pains shot through his body.

The woman gasped and spoke in a fast chiding voice while she pushed him down and tucking him in softly.

"Thank you." Ranma smiled and gave a small nod.

The women smiled back and spoke something in Chinese again before heading out of the room.

**What happened, where am I?** The Pigtailed mage sighed and stared silently at the ceiling.

"Saotome, how are you feeling?"

Ranma lifted his head to find Herb standing next to his bed along with his retainers Mint and Lime, "Like I've been run through by a spear." Ranma joked while fighting back the pain.

"At least you are feeling what happened." Herb sighed, "I'm sorry you have to be involved in this. I really don't know how to repay you and on top of that, you got injured helping us."

Ranma grinned weakly, "Hey, is no problem. By the way, where are we?"

"One of the larger villages surrounding the Musk city," Herb replied, "It's just a temporary base for us; we'll have to move once the troops are ready."

"Kikori, where is she?" Ranma said softly, "Is she alright?"

"You need to concentrate on healing yourself." Herb said, turning towards to door, "Sleep Saotome, you'll need your strength."

"What about Kikori?" Ranma said urgently, "Is she ok!"

Herb closed his eyes, "She's fine, from what some of the soldiers told me; you managed to push her aside at the last moment before some of Spice's troops managed to run you both through. She's been worried about you ever since she's been awake."

Ranma sighed in relieved, "Where is she now?"

"She's helping our healers and aiding some of the sick villagers too." Herb said, silently signaling his retainers to exit the room, "Recover as quickly as possible, I don't know when my brother might attack us again, we need to move away from the village and set our own base camp."

"Thank you Herb."

"No, thank you Saotome." Herb said silently and left the room.

* * *

"How is he Herb." Kikori asked calmly from her bed, being exhausted from healing everyone the previous day, the priestess has stayed in bed for the whole day. 

"He's awake, but a lot of the healers say he might fall back into a coma with his condition." Herb replied shaking his head, "This shouldn't have happened."

"It's all my fault." Kikori muttered dejectedly, "The one time Ranma was right, I have to act stupidly."

"Without your help, I don't think I would be here with all my followers Priestess Sekihara." Herb said encouragingly, "I owe you and your partner a large debt."

"It's been almost a week," Kikori buried her head in her pillow, "He's never been hurt this badly before."

"He will recover, just give him time."

A quite sob reached the Dragon Prince's ears, "All my fault."

"Why don't you go see him, I think he's still awake." Herb said, completely at a lost on what he can do.

Kikori sniffed once and wiped her tears with the sleeve of her sweater before heading towards her partner's room wordlessly. Herb watched her walk out wearing the sweater and dress that the villagers have given her, "I'll never understand women."

* * *

"Ranma, are you awake." 

Ranma tried desperately to open his eyes, "Kikori?"

"You're alive."

"I'm tired…"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be Kikori, for you…"

"for you…"

Kikori held back her tears, silently watching Ranma falling back into unconsciousness, "I'm so sorry…" (Note)

"Don't be sorry." A deep voice growled from behind the priestess.

Kikori turned around to see Lime standing in the doorway, "If it wasn't for me…"

"Everyone needs something to protect," Lime said seriously, "For me, it's my home, and Herb. If I failed to do this, I know I'll be wandering aimlessly until I die. I think the person he protects is you. So don't say you're sorry, be happy he wants to protect you and he's still alive."

"Me?" Kikori whispered, "What about revenge for you sister Ranma, you can't if you died protecting me…"

Another voice broke interrupted Kikori, "Even avengers need something to protect."

"Councilor Sal Te," Kikori greeted, "What brings you here?"

"My hearing is quite good with my bear ears, I sometimes hear things that I shouldn't," Sal Te replied, chuckling, "I couldn't help but overhearing your conversation with Lime, and I'm quite surprised you can be this serious Lime."

The tiger man blushed, "I can be serious if I want to."

"Quite, quite, is that why your staring at the priestess's behind all the while?" Sal Te smirked.

"But, but, she's a GIRL!"

"Go ogle some of the nurses here then." Sal Te ordered, waving Lime away, "Now, there isn't anything to be embarrassed about."

Kikori blushed bright red while she stared down at Ranma's unconscious form, "What did you mean?"

"Hm?" Sal Te frowned, "Ah yes, even avengers need something to protect. I've met a lot of people like that in my life, living in an area where so many warrior societies exist."

"Ranma hides it well, but I've seen him. He changes so quickly every time he thinks of getting revenge." Kikori said sadly, "I tried to get him to forget, but somehow, he always changes back."

"People who live for revenge live only for two things Priestess of Healing," The bear like councilor said turning towards the door, "To attain vengeance, and to find a reason to live long enough to attain their vengeance. You should feel honored to be the reason Ranma is living right now."

"W-what!?!" Kikori blushed even harder, "I-I don't know what you mean."

"Even though you're not related by blood, I can see you love him like your own brother," Sal Te said softly from the doorway, "Heal his heart, Priestess, don't let him attain his vengeance, it only makes a man even hollower than he already is."

Kikori watched the Musk councilor walk out of the room before turning towards Ranma with a smile on her lips, "Brother huh? Is that why you protect me so hard? Am I the replacement for Saiko?"

Ranma twisted slightly but Kikori held him down gently, "Don't move around so much, you'll just aggravate your wounds."

As if he heard, Ranma stopped fidgeting and settled down, "Even if I'm just a replacement, I'll stay with you Rammie. I always stay with my family."

* * *

"Our forces have fully recovered your highness," A Musk soldier, wearing a gold helmet with an emblem of a tiger on it, "Our soldiers are ready to launch an attack against Spice any time." 

Herb nodded, "Thank you captain. We should move to a better location to set up our base camp then, get our men ready to move out."

"As you command; by your leave." The captain placed his fist over his chest, making a Musk salute, before heading out of the room.

"Sal Te, what is your view on the battle." Herb asked, turning towards the others in the room.

Sal Te glanced around the room, only the prophet and Herb's retainers remained, "Our forces, although a bit less in numbers, should have no problem against the ones that Spice has in his command. Most of the veterans are on our side and also we have all of our most experienced spell casters."

"That's good." Herb nodded, "But?"

"If what you said about your brother is true," Sal Te said nervously, "I'm afraid even if our troops won the battle, Spice will just slaughter all of us unless you can defeat him."

"Our spell casters won't be able to help me?" Herb asked.

"No. As you know, Spice is a master at manipulating spells, he can probably dispel most of the spells that our casters can utilize, and the rest won't even affect him in his state of blood lust." The Councilor said, "I'm afraid you must fight your brother on your own."

"I see." Herb closed his eyes in thought, "Prophet, what do you see?"

"Don't underestimate your allies." The Prophet said cryptically, "They may be the key to victory."

Herb shook his head, "I've asked too much of the two Japanese mages already, I can't ask them to join our battle."

"One can always open a door without the key, but can you?"

"I'll find a way," Herb muttered stubbornly, "Your visions are not correct all the time."

"That is true your highness." The Prophet said monotonously.

The door to the room opened suddenly. Two soldiers appeared, each carrying a spear with a sword on their belt, leading two people inside, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but these two men claim came here claiming to be representatives of the mage tower."

Herb raised his eyebrows, "What does the mage tower want now?"

"Prince Herb, we're here to assist Ranma Saotome and Kikori Sekihara." The one with glasses said.

"I see, and your names?" Herb said with a nod.

"Mousse of the Chinese Amazon and this is Ryouga Hibiki, caller of the Japanese mage tower." Mousse said.

"I see, you came just in time," Herb said with a smile, "Our troops is about to move into position to attack my brother, you can take the two mages back to the tower. If everything goes well, then you will hear from us regarding our negotiations. Lime, lead the two mage to where Saotome is, I believe Priestess Sekihara is still with him."

"Yes your highness." Lime replied taking a step forward, "Well, follow me."

Herb sighed in relief, "Now that we don't need to worry about the injured mages, we can concentrate on the battle ahead of us, Sal Te, stay here with the prophet and deal of anything that might arise, I'm going to plan our attack with the Captain."

Sal Te watched Herb leave the room, "So Prophet, what do you think?"

"Do not worry yourself Sal Te, the Musk will no fall yet." The prophet waved his hand, "He is still underestimating those mages from afar."

* * *

"What happened to him?" Ryouga said, staring at the unconscious spirit mage. 

"Ryouga? What are you doing here?" Kikori said tiredly.

"Mousse and me were sent here to get you two out of here." Ryouga replied, "Well, at least we plan on getting you two out of here, I don't want to get mixed up in a fight with these guys."

Mousse nodded in agreement, "Musk soldiers are all very brutal in their fights, I don't want to imagine what it will be like if we were to fight them."

"Anyways, what happened to him." Ryouga again, pointing at Ranma.

"He got stabbed by a spear saving me." Kikori said quietly, "I'm staying with him till he gets enough energy so I can heal him."

"Can't you just heal him now?" Ryouga said anxiously.

"No, healing spells are just spells that speed up the natural process of healing without the fear of cellular decay due to over reproduction of cells." Kikori said professionally, "If I heal him now, I'll probably strain his body too much and he'll die. I thought all mages have to learn this at the tower."

Ryouga laughed nervously, "I got lost…"

"Oh that explains everything." Kikori said with a hint of humor.

"Oh why can't I be partnered up with Shampoo again," Mousse sighed, "Why do I have to partner up with a guy that can't even walk in a straight line."

"I CAN walk in a straight line!" Ryouga yelled.

"Yeah, not for more than FIVE SECONDS!" Mousse yelled back.

"Ugh… can you guys keep it down, I have a headache…"

"You're awake…" Kikori smiled, "That's great…"

"Can't keep me down for long ya know." Ranma grinned, "Hey Ryouga, Mousse."

"You look like shit." Ryouga commented, earning him a bop on the head from Kikori.

"And I still owe you a beating for that Koi rod!" Ranma grin turned evil, "You're lucky I'm injured."

The caller swallowed, "Hehe, let bygones be bygones?"

"Heh, whatever." Ranma turned towards Kikori, "Heal me will ya."

"You're still too weak, I might-"

"Heal me, I'm strong enough." Ranma grunted.

"If you say so." Kikori took her pendent and took in a deep breath, "_Goddess of Healing let your power flow through my unworthy hands. Heal the wounded with your light, lend me your power._"

Soft blue light glowed from the pendent at the same time the as the same light glowed around the wounds Ranma took. Ranma grimaced in pain as the cuts and other injuries all over his body slowly healed.

"Am I healing too fast Ranma?" Kikori said nervously.

"Naw, I'm fine." Ranma said, gritting his teeth.

Mousse winced in sympathy while Ryouga watched in fascination as the amount of wounds Ranma scored, "Man, you need to take it easy Ranma, you have like two holes in you."

Ranma growled and glared at Ryouga just as the glow slowly died off, "If I wasn't feeling so tired right now, I'd be beating you down the old fashion way."

"Ok, Ranma needs his rest," Kikori shooed away Mousse and Ryouga, "We can discuss what we're going to do tomorrow, or at least later today."

Ranma closed his eyes, "Thanks Kikori."

"Sweet dreams… brother…." Kikori whispered beside Ranma's ear before leaving the room.

* * *

The four mages from the mage tower stared at each other from across a rectangular table with plates of food on it. Kikori and Ranma on one side, Ryouga and Mousse the other, "We're staying here." 

"It'll be too much of a hassle, it's better to leave now before you get even more involved." Mousse said, "Musk battles are nothing you've ever seen, even some of the Amazon veterans don't like fighting a full out battle with the Musk."

"We're already too involved." Ranma countered, "Plus, I don't like leaving something I started to do hanging."

"And if you keep on fighting, it'll be YOU that will be hanging, by your neck." Ryouga snorted, "You were STABBED in the stomach by a god damn spear!"

Kikori glared at Ryouga, "That's only because we were overly outnumbered; and please don't swear like that."

"Sorry." Ryouga muttered.

Ranma stood up from the table and lifted his empty plate from it, "Look, Herb is going to need all the help he can get, I'm going to help him no matter what. Besides, those guys tried to assassinate me and Kikori while we were sleeping, can't let them get away with that."

Mousse rolled his eyes, "Oh, nice argument, they tried to kill you so you're going to kill them?"

The pigtailed mage ignored the Amazon, "Look I'll go talk to Herb about this, if he doesn't accept our help, then we'll leave."

Kikori dropped her spoon on the plate in front of her, only half eaten, "I'll go with you Ranma."

The two remaining mages looked around the empty room, "We might as well go keep an eye on those two." Ryouga said finishing his food.

"Yeah."

* * *

"The four mages from the Mage tower here to see you, your majesty." 

Herb nodded and signaled to the guard to let the four mages in, "You look pale Saotome."

Ranma nodded weakly, "I'll be fine after a good night's sleep and a good meal. Getting healed usually leaves me weaker than I was."

The dragon prince nodded, "Well, the two mages that just came are here to bring you and your partner back. I thank you for your help in retrieving my sigil flag."

Ranma bowed his head, "It's no problem Prince Herb, just doing what we wanted to do, but I think we'll be staying to help you with your up coming battle."

Herb frowned, "In your state, you'll be more of a liability than of help."

"I'm only suffering from lack of energy and magical strain," Ranma said waving his hand dismissively, "Like I said, I'll be fine after a good night of sleep."

"Still, I would ask you to leave our battle to ourselves; you are letting yourself get drawn into our problems." Herb argued, "Please leave."

Kikori clenched her fist, "We'll help you whether you like it or not, if you send us back now, we'll just come back when you're not looking. You're going to get our help even if you don't plan for it, wouldn't it be better to have us in your plan than have us as a uncontrollable factor?"

Herb stared at the priestess intently, "This isn't about what you're suppose to do, this is just a battle between me and my brother for power, nothing as righteous as saving the world from darkness, just a power struggle."

The priestess's whole body starts to shake, "This isn't about what is right or wrong; this is about me not letting my parents death be in vain. My parents told me before they left for their last mission that they are going to fight so that there won't be orphans like them. So that there won't be children out there crying for their parents." Ranma frowned and placed his arm around Kikori's shoulders, "Is this what you want for you people Herb? Are you so prideful that you would let your people suffer because you didn't accept help from us? This battle you're going to fight, if you lose, your people will turn into what my parents fought against. I won't let something like that happen! I'm here not to fight for what's right or wrong, I'm going to help you fight because that's what my parents did, because I want to honor my parents."

Kikori turned and stormed out of the room with tears streaming down her eyes closely followed by Ranma. Ryouga and Mousse stared, puzzled at the priestess' reaction, "I've never seen her so worked up."

Mousse nodded, "Everyone of us have something like that."

Herb shook his head in resignation, "Seems like we'll be getting help for the four of you even if we don't want it."

Ryouga grinned, "Oh I think you'll like the help we're going to give you."

"I hate it when things get out of control like this." Herb growled and stood up, "I must excuse myself; I need to clear my head."

* * *

Herb almost bumped into a man wearing a gold cloak, "Prophet, I didn't see you." 

"I told you not to underestimate the mages from afar." The Prophet said with a small smile on his lips.

Herb frowned, "I never did underestimate them; I just don't want them involved in the battle."

"But you did Prince Herb." The Prophet said, his smile growing, "You underestimated their tenacity and their drive to fight for what they believe is right."

The dragon prince blinked, "I see."

"They still hold the key to victory," The Prophet said, walking away from the Prince, "It all comes down to a decision that you have no influence over. The time for you to decide the fall or elevation of the Musk is yet to come, and it will only come if you win the next battle."

Herb sighed and massaged his temple, "After all this time, that man is still the only person that dares to turn his back on me."

* * *

"Kikori…" 

"Ranma…"

The two mages sat on the outskirt of the small town staring down the road that leads to the Musk Citadel, "Kikori, don't do anything stupid."

"You're the one that does stupid things Ranma," Kikori joked.

"Just remember you're a Priestess of Healing." Ranma whispered, "I know what you're thinking right now; believe in what you're going to fight for, not what you need to fight for."

"Thank you for coming with me Ranma."

"I can't let anything happen to you. I won't."

Silence once again took hold of the two as they stared down the path.

* * *

"Seems like your right Saotome," Herb said with a smirk, "I just can't believe you manage to out eat Lime. I believe he is going to challenge you again on an eating contest after this." 

Ranma sweatdropped, "Umm, I hope not, 'cause if I can eat that much, that means I got hurt pretty bad."

"Nevertheless, get ready, Spice will be expecting us." Herb said before turning towards his army, "We are not fighting for glory of victory today. Sadly, we will be fighting our own brothers in a war for power. But we still need to win, to win so that my crazed brother will not destroy our people from within. This is a fight for survival, a fight to protect our way of life and peace that we have achieved because of our fore-fathers. So do not hold back when you see our brothers on the other side of the battle field."

The soldiers stared solemnly at the Musk prince, resolves in the fight solidified. Everyone tightened their hold on their weapons in anticipation of the battle.

"FOR THE PEOPLE OF MUSK!" Herb roared, raising his own sword in the air.

"FOR THE PEOPLE!"

The four mages from Japan nodded, "Well, at least his speeches are more motivating than the ones Landal gives us."

Kikori stared at Ranma, "Landal gave you a speech?"

"Yeah, it was back when we had our first few missions." Ranma said with a shrug, "It was something like, 'Remember, if things get steamy with that girlfriend of yours, wear protection.'"

Kikori blushed, "What is he thinking."

Ranma sighed, "I just can't believe he told me that, I mean we were just, what, thirteen at the time?"

Ryouga held back a chuckle, "Isn't it great having a mentor like that?"

Mousse nodded, "Now if Elder Cologne will say that to me."

The three Japanese mages stared at the Chinese one, "In your dreams maybe."

Herb joined the four mages after directing his men to organize for the march towards the Musk city, "I have a request to make of the four of you."

Ranma looked up and gave a nod.

"Spice will still have at least two groups of trackers, I want the four of you, along with Lime and Mint, to handle them." Herb said.

"Didn't I kill them already?" Ranma said with a frown.

"You didn't expect Spice to have only one group of trackers did you?" Herb gave Ranma an incredulous stare, "Even I have five different pairs of retainers which I chose from my followers."

"You mean you have other retainers other than Lime and Mint?" Kikori blinked in surprise, "Why don't you keep the others with you then?"

Herb sighed, "If I leave those two alone for even a day, I don't want to know what will happen to my reputation."

Ranma and Kikori laughed uncertainly, "They are not that bad."

"Ooo… breasts!"

"Don't forget the night stand!"

Sweat drops appeared on everyone that heard Herb's two retainers usual breast obsession once again surface, "Thank the god of all that is holy my troops know of Lime and Mint's obsession."

"Yeah…" Ranma muttered and watched the two follow a particularly attractive villager walking from the well outside the village back in.

"MINT! LIME! Quit FOLLOWING every SINGLE girl in the whole VILLAGE!"

* * *

Well, this will be the last update for the year from me. Unless I decide to make write one during my finals, which is highly doubtful 'cause it's killing me so I doubt I'd be doing that. 

No action this chapter, just some odd character development and stuff like that. I wasn't in the mood to write any action and this fits into the story. This act should be over in two more chapters and act two should be starting around February or March, if I decide to write during my break -,-.

Just one more final personal note, I'd like to thank my pre-readers, (and a new one too Mmm new stuff ) and I'd like to express my surprise for some guy using my magic system in his fic in a very civilized way… GRRRR MINE!!! MIIINEEEE!!!

Just joking but seriously, next time, at least just ask me before doing that -,- it's not like I'd bite your head off…

Well, that's it for me, heres your Omake of the Chatper

**Omake**A very wrong ending**Omake**

"…never dragged you into this."

Ranma tried to move. Everything around him seemed to move sluggishly and blur slightly every time he moves. Looking down, he saw Kikori lying on top of him, totally exhausted. Clanking of armor surrounded him, flashes of light all around him as he looked up.

"No…" Ranma mouthed, but no sound came out, the spears over him came down, descending on the two. Slowly, blurry, all of the spears seemed like solid brown bars coming down on the two.

**I can't die, I won't die. Can't let her die, need to...**

Ranma watched again as the spears slowly dropped towards him.

**Need to breathe… I knew I shoulda told Kikori to go on that diet…**

The End…

**Omake**End**Omake**

I told you it was very wrong

Hmm, one final note... do any one of you like the new edit thing? Personally, I really don't like it... makes me edit so much more than nessasary... and whats with the line breaks... they never work likeI want it to. But enough of me whining... Comments? Flames? Hate mails? Suggestions for me to go back to elementary school? Or you just want to donate alot of money for a poor college student? Click that nifty button just down there or send me a e-mail


	23. Chapter 23

"Shampoo?" Cologne hopped on he cane into Shampoo's room, "Shampoo, are you there?"

The Amazon elder let out a frustrated sigh and went out of the house. Staring at the cloud filled sky, Cologne shook her head, "Damn that girl, disappearing like that when a Musk civil war is about to break out. We'll need all the warriors we can get if the wrong side wins."

A tall women holding a spear jogged lightly towards Cologne and stopped in front of her with a quick salute. Cologne nodded and waved her hand urging the women to speak, "Elder, the circle of leaders is waiting for you in the planning room."

"Damn that impatient child," Cologne growled, "Thank you, I am just heading there myself."

"The circle is getting worried elder," The women said following Cologne to the center of the village, "They have heard of the war between the Musk princes and a lot of them are wondering if we should interfere."

"Yes I know child," Cologne replied tiredly, "Ready our defenses, Musk wars are known to end in just hours from the start, notify all guards to be wary of any attack and set up a time table for the guards. Always set them in pairs."

"Yes Elder." The women saluted again and jogged off.

Cologne sighed again, "Why is this happening now…"

* * *

Act 1: Final Chapter… Part 1

Awakening…

* * *

"Herb, shouldn't we stop here and plan an offence into the city?" Ranma said cautiously from beside the Dragon prince, "If we just rush in, we'll get slaughtered."

"Don't worry yourself Saotome," Herb said, "The battle is not going to be fought into the Musk city itself, Spice is going to bring the fight out to meet us."

"How do you know that?" Ranma asked skeptically.

"This is his precious city, he won't allow it to come to harm." Herb said with a smirk, "Don't worry, I know how my brother thinks. That is to say, I know how Musk royalty thinks."

"Just like a dragon…" Kikori muttered from the other side of Herb, "Protecting their treasure, and to your family, this city must be like the irreplaceable gem that you will protect with your own life."

"Excatly." Herb nodded and waved his hands about, signaling his generals, "We'll wait here for Spice to come out."

Within minutes, Herb's army is in position, creating an arc of soldiers covering the large gate of the Musk city. "Saotome, please remember what I ask of you, keep an eye out for my brother and his trackers, my army may be strong, but the trackers can effectively weaken them. Take them out as quick as you can."

"Don't worry, just end this as soon as possible ok?" Ranma said casually, "I'll go over to the left side with Kikori, Ryouga and Mousse said that they will take the right."

"Yeah, don't worry about us." Ryouga said flexing his arms, "I'm a much better mage than Ranma is so you don't have to worry."

"Oh yeah! Remember what you said the next time I kick your sorry ass!" Ranma growled and waved his fist at Ryouga.

"Let us go Ryouga," Mousse said dragging the caller with him, "And try not to get lost in the middle of the fight ok?"

"I'm not that bad!"

Ranma shook his head, "Let's go Kikori."

Kikori bowed politely at Herb before following Ranma towards their chosen side.

"Spice… it's time to come out and play…" Herb whispered.

* * *

"Sire! Our guards have spotted Prince Herb and his army outside the city wall surrounding the gates."

Spice's eyes flashed blood red and growled, "Herb is no longer a Prince of the Musk, he is but a weakling and traitor of our proud nation!"

The guard shuttered at the voice of the Musk Prince, "Y-your orders sire!"

"Dispatch our troops, in defense of our city" Spice said calmly and stood up. His armor made small scratching noises from the metals, "I will take care of Herb, I want the army and my trackers to decimate Herb's feeble army of old men just as I will slaughter Herb."

"Yes sire." The guard stood up and saluted Spice, "For the preservation of the Musk."

Spice nodded, "So you think you can best me… Herb…"

* * *

Ranma licked his lips and looked around him. Musk veterans all standing in a relaxed but ready stance with their swords and spears at their hips, most of them eyed him and his partner with distrust. "Kikori, do you think you can manage to cast your rejuvenation spell on this half of the army? It would help them hold off Spice's army."

Kikori frowned in thought, "Maybe, but it would take some time and a lot of energy for me to do. Maybe some of the mages can help me with that."

"I seriously doubt it Kikori," Ranma replied with a shake of his head, "Most of the mages here are closer to Channelers and Spirit mages than Priests, I don't think they can help you much."

"But if I cast the spell and asked them to direct and strengthen it…"

Ranma scratched his head, "Hey, if we can do that, then they can probably hold off the trackers too!"

"Why don't you go ask them and I'll think of a way to do this…" The priestess said as she kneeled down onto the ground in a thoughtful pose.

The pig tailed mage nodded and made his way through the army towards the mages, "Erm, 'scuse me?"

The Musk mages turned their attention towards the Japanese mage.

"Umm, can anyone here understand Japanese?"

"We speak multitudes of languages, its part of our way of understanding how magic works." One of the mages said, "We've heard your idea and agree that this would help our troops significantly, but we don't know how we would be able to redirect the spells the way it needs to be."

Ranma scratched his head, "Well, if I get Kikori here maybe you can work something out with her?"

The Musk mages blinked and started talking with each other in their language for a couple of minutes before turning back to Ranma, "That would be most effective. But I am afraid that we might not have enough time to plan the execution of the spell."

"Well, do what you can, I guess." Ranma said before heading back to the front lines.

"The mages wants to work with you on that spell Kikori." Ranma said interrupting Kikori's train of thought.

"Oh… I'll go join them then." Kikori stood back up and made her way back.

* * *

Ranma sighed and sat himself on the ground staring at the gate leading to the Musk city. "I hope this will end soon. I need a vacation already and it's only been one serious mission."

A light prod from the butt of a spear snapped Ranma out of his daze. He looked up to see one of the soldiers holding a spear out at him saying some Chinese rapidly.

"Umm, it's ok, I don't need it." Ranma said shaking his hands and head in unison.

The soldier growled and pushed the spear into his chest saying something in Chinese again.

Ranma sighed and pushed it back, "_I call forth the sword of wind_."

The soldiers gasped as a green bar of magic erected itself from Ranma's middle and index finger, "See, I told you I don't need that."

The soldier stared at Ranma for a second before laughing mirthfully and slapped him on his shoulder and gave him a thumbs-up.

Ranma grinned in reply and dismissed his spell.

A loud creak sounded and everyone looked towards the gate.

The battle is about to begin.

* * *

Herb smiled solemnly as he watch his brother's army slowly walk out into the open, "But the true battle isn't even fought there. If I lose, all they are fighting for will be for naught."

The dragon prince took a deep breathe and walked to the side of the battlefield with his arms crossed, staring at the wall of the Musk city, "Come on out brother, or do you intend to keep me waiting…"

* * *

"Are you sure you can take the strain of the powers I'll channel?" Kikori said, frowning in worry.

"Do no worry yourself Priestess, if it turns out the power you channel is too much, we can always spare a few more of our mages to assist on the channeling and strengthening of your healing effect." The Musk mage said as he led Kikori to the point behind the army directly facing the front gate, "This will be the point where you will be casting, try to direct the lines of magic towards me and my apprentice and we will direct it towards the others."

Kikori nodded, "I'll start casting now."

The priestess took out her pendent and held it in front of her face, silently giving a prayer towards the Goddess of Healing. The pendent glows slightly and slowly gains intensity as the spell is slowly being cast by Kikori. The Musk mage watched as the magic build up; behind him, the battle between the two armies has already begun as the clash of steel sounded loudly.

The mage nodded to his apprentice, signaling him to be ready as a bright white beam of light moves slowly towards them.

Closer…

Almost…

Touch…

"AAHHHH." The apprentice screamed out loud overlapping the pain filled grunt made by the Musk mage.

"Priestess… STOP!"

Kikori opened her eyes and gasped from suddenly cutting off of the flow of magic, "What is wrong?"

The Musk mage shook his head in disbelieve, "It seems we have underestimated the amount of power you can channel priestess, my apprentice seems to be… unconscious due to the strain."

Kikori blinked and look down, "Umm… so can we still do this?"

"Most likely, but our army would be lacking a lot of magical support."

"…"

"I will call whatever mages we can spare and try this again."

The priestess gasp, "But wouldn't that weaken your army?"

"I trust our fighters, and we have mages of your caliber helping in the front lines too." The Musk mage chuckled, "I believe they can hold off Spice's army despite our weakened magical support."

Kikori nodded, "If you think so…"

* * *

Ryouga snorted as another wave of arrows reached the pinnacle of its arc and quickly descends towards him, "Fire golem, burn them all to ashes would you."

Beside Ryouga, a huge humanoid shaped mass of flames grunted and waved his hands at the arrows. The arrows are quickly burnt to ashes and sprinkled harmlessly on the army, "Light the arrows our archers are shooting on fire too. Keep doing this while I look for the trackers ok Fire golem?"

"Ryouga, the troops to the right of us doesn't seem to be doing too well. I'm going to see if the trackers are there." Ryouga turned towards Mousse's voice just in time to watch him jump off towards the center of the battlefield.

An arrow whizzed by Ryouga's head making the lost boy jump in surprise, "Golem, I thought I told you to burn any arrows coming down on us to a crisp!"

The fire golem grunted and pointed towards the top of the wall.

A man holding a crossbow pointed towards Ryouga, leaped down from the wall and quickly sprinted towards him.

"I'm guessing that was one of the track- YOW!" Ryouga barely dodged another two arrows coming at him at an angle, "Ok, that was FEW of the trackers. Oh man… I didn't sign up for this…"

* * *

Mousse frowned and threw another handful of exploding rocks towards Spice's army, "They're tougher than they look." The bespeckled imbuer muttered to himself before pulling out two enchanted blades from his sleeves, "Guess I'll have to fight seriously."

Within seconds, Mousse charged right into the opposing force and proceeds to kill soldier after soldier. His twin blade twirled wildly cutting everything that is in its way. Streams of magic, fire and ice, shot back and forth all around Mousse as he weaves around the soldiers trying to kill the male Amazon.

A loud shout from Mousse's left sounded, followed by a loud explosion which made the whole battlefield tremor. Not minding anything around him, the male Amazon made a stab with his sword to the left while slashing wildly with his other sword to the right. His blades went through the armor of his opponents like air as he continues to bring more chaos within Spice's troops. Another explosion sounded, much closer to Mousse, this time the amazon took a quick glance at the source of the explosion to find a single mage wearing a skin tight suit, with a fox tail sticking out from behind him, casting spells on top of the wall.

"Tch, that must be one of the trackers." Mousse grunted as he quickly parried a halberd from beheading him and chopped off the blade from the pole-arm and quickly kicked him with his bladed shoe right in the chest, "Have to get to him before he kills off any more of Herb's troops."

Mousse once again looked forward to see what was between him and his intended target. "This is going to be a long day…"

* * *

Ranma smirked as he glanced down as both armies crashing into each other. Arrows from Spice's army rained on his shield, "Let's get this over with, _I call forth, the sword of wind!_"

A green blade extended from the tip of Ranma's fingers. Holding his left hand up, he lift it towards the middle of Spice army, "_I call upon the weapon of nature!_" A ball of compressed air shot out from Ranma's palm, crushing the soldiers underneath him. The pigtailed mage immediately dived down towards the circle of dead soldiers and raised his hands in front of him again, "_I call upon the breath of a demon._"

Ranma exploded into motion, turning around and cutting anyone getting to close to him with his green blade of magic while throwing green balls of concentrated magic all around him. A spear tip grazed his face lightly. Ranma growled to himself as he did a spin kick, knocking back few soldiers getting too close to him, and cleaved the soldier who scratched him with his spear. More spear points came his way only to be stopped by a shimmer of air that appeared suddenly, breaking the metal point off the pole, "Time to meet death assholes, _Fury of the earth, I call upon thy power._" Ranma began muttering, "_Lend me your strength and protect me from that which I cannot stop!_"

Spice's soldiers around Ranma snarled and leaped into the air all at once, hoping to overpower the lone mage only to find themselves flung into the air even higher as Ranma completed his spell. Unrestrained winds bursted from the ground up all around Ranma, tossing hapless soldiers into the air like plastic bags in a small breeze.

"_Wings of an angel, carry me_." Ranma whispered, green transparent wings blinked into existence and vanished only a second later on his back. The pigtailed mage flew into the air once again, "What is Kikori doing! Where the hell is that regeneration spell she said she'd cast. Spice's mages are slaughtering our own soldiers!"

Ranma frowned and scanned the battle field again, "There's Ryouga's golem, can't see where Mousse is… What the hell IS Kikori doi- ack!"

A ball of fire interrupted Ranma as he quickly cast his shield spell, only to be still knocked back, "Wind and Fire! What the hell!" Ranma glared at the source of the fireball to find a man wearing a golden breastplate, holding a chinese long sword in his right hand standing with the archers. He held his hand up so that his palm was facing Ranma, a red ball slowly formed in front of him.

"Ok, that guy is going down." Ranma growled and quickly dove at the man from the sky like a falcon. The man released his fireball, only to have it be dodged by the still diving mage, and quickly held his sword up in front of him defensively.

"Take THIS!" Ranma yelled and brought his blade of magic down at the man. Said man smirked and casually held his sword up, its tip towards Ranma. A slight distortion surrounded the pigtailed mage suddenly, and suddenly, Ranma stopped in mid-air, losing all his momentum, and fell onto the ground with a panicked yelp. "Crap, channel class dispel magic."

Every archer immediately pointed their bows at the fallen mage and fired their arrow at him, "_I CALL FORTH THE BARRIER OF SOULS!_" Ranma crossed his arms in front of his face as he yelled out his spell. A green barrier appeared covering the front half of Ranma as arrows rained down at him. "_Wind, you are the weapon of death!_" Green crescents rushed forward and lacerated all that met its path. The archers all dropped their bows and drew their swords and charged the mage hoping to overwhelm him while the man in gold armor watched from behind began chanting. Ranma narrowed his eyes and jumped back before calling his blade again, this time extending from both his hands, and charging back at the soldiers. Swiftly, Ranma dodged an overhead strike of a sword, slashing two soldiers at once with his two blades and tackled the soldier in front of him onto the ground. Swords slashed at the mage, who dodged by flipping himself into the air and landing behind the group of soliders. "_Wind is my walkway_." The pigtailed mage quickly casted the spell on the small group of soldiers and smirked, "_I forth the breath of a de-_Oof."

Ranma breathed out sharply as he found himself being flung into the air, by the explosion of a fireball, over the battling army. Searing pain shot through his back. Only one thing went through his mind as he turned around to find the man in the golden breastplate only a few meters away from him. "SHIT!"

(Note: There are three types of dispels in this world, Channel class magic is a form of dispel that destroys spells or enchantments by overpowering them with brute magic force. Since Jusenkyo curses are so powerful, you need to either be a demi god or a dragon to magically overwhelm it with a Channel class dispel, hence, Ranma's own Jusenkyo curse is not affected by it.)

* * *

Ryouga cursed under his breath as the three trackers came at him at once, rushing past his fire golem with their superior speed, **Damnit, looks like they've done this before.** **Time to call some backup…**

"_Child of earth, I call upon thee!_" Ryouga shouted as he jumped back to avoid some a barrage of throwing knives the trackers threw. A yellow circle with a single triangle in the middle of it appeared on the ground where Ryouga jumped from. The earth cracked open, swallowing the knives embedded on the ground. A single stone hand reached out from the crevice lifting the rest of its stone body out from the earth. "Golem, separate and show them why people NEVER mess with golem callers…"

The trackers all landed beside the newly summoned rock golem, and together, they all jumped away as the golem scattered into little versions of itself. Ryouga smirked at the trackers as they dodged a torrent of arrows shot by Herb's archers, "Golem, spread out and slow those trackers down. Beat them up good if you can."

The small squad of mini golems grunted before chasing down the trackers, "Fire golem, keep destroying the incoming arrows and why don't you go and help our soldiers cause some mayhem." The fanged caller said with a grin and cracked his knuckles, "About time I get a good workout don't you think."

Ryouga growled and charged right up to the front line of the battle delivering powerful blows crushing armor and weapons alike from strength and toughness gotten by sparring with his golems. Spears and halberds tried to pierce him from all around only to be trapped between his arm and body and then efficiently snapped, making the weapon useless. Herb's troops around him screams their battle cry once more as them force themselves to push on against their opponent.

The fire golem swings his right hand effortlessly, smashing soldiers around him into the arm while lighting them up like a torch with the flames surrounding him. Men from both sides stayed away from the firey monster as it continues to smash and burn the opposition. A shower of arrows rained on the golem to have no effect. The golem continues to effortlessly create a hole in its opponent's army but is suddenly struck by a spear of ice in its right shoulder.

Ryouga grunted as a cold numbing pain shot through his shoulder, giving enough time for the soldier in front of him to thrust his spear through Ryouga's defense. Ryouga turned his body in a desperate attempt to avoid certain death but is still scratched on his shoulder. With a roar, the fanged mage lashed out with his left fist, crushing the offending soldier before retreating slightly letting the others fill in his place.

The same numbing pain shot through his chest, this time bringing Ryouga down on his knee, "Shit, my fire golem." Turning his head, Ryouga saw his fire golem being showered by shards and spears of ice. The fire golem took a step back, trying to lessen the effects of the ice spells. "Fire golem, go back!"

In a flash of flames, the fire golem disappeared from the battlefield. A rain of arrows fell from the skies immediately after the fire golem's retreat, a stray arrow pierced Ryouga through his thighs causing him to lose his concentration on his summons. With a grunt, Ryouga pulled the arrow out of his leg, "This sucks…"

A ninja star embedded beside Ryouga, making him jump away, avoiding the rest of the barrage. The three trackers sneered at Ryouga as they quickly converged on him.

"Ok… I was wrong… THIS sucks…"

* * *

Mousse growled again as he was forced to put away his twin swords and use his shield to block another incoming spell. "This is getting me nowhere."

As his muttering indicated, Mousse has only moved forward slightly from where he has started, and no where near the spell casting tracker, "Think… what do I have that can get him…"

A soldier with a flail swung at side of the shield, wrapping the chain around the side trying to hit the holder, but Mousse dropped said shield and pulled out his twin swords once again and quickly disabled three more soldiers in quick successions, "Chains… I can use my chains to pull myself to him!" Mousse grinned and launched his chains towards the wall that the fox-like tracker is standing on and pulled himself towards him.

The spell casting tracker raised an eyebrow at Mousse's daring move and chuckled. Mumbling quickly and gesturing with his hands, the tracker creates many arrows of fire around him and quickly launched them towards the Amazon.

Mousse gritted his teeth as the searing arrows struck him again and again…

Only to be surrounded by a blue light…

* * *

"Ok Priestess, we do not have much time, cast your spell quickly!" The Musk mage said as his colleagues moved into position.

Kikori nodded nervously and gripped her pendent tightly. Once again, Kikori chanted a prayer to her goddess and her pendent glows brightly within her hands. A blue beam of light shot out quickly towards one of the mages who divided it in two, then four, and many more until…

"Release the spell now!" The first Musk mage yelled.

The mages nearest to the fighting all raised their hands and a soft blue light slowly spread towards the fighting, healing the soldiers on Herb's side.

Kikori smiled, "It worked!"

The head mage nodded as sweat dripped down his forehead, "Yes, I've managed to manipulate you're spell so that it will be released periodically to keep our soldiers refreshed. Hopefully this will mean that casualties won't be high at the end of the fight."

Kikori nodded, "I have to go help Ranma."

"Go, he will need your help Priestess."

* * *

"_Wings of an Angel, carry me!_" Ranma muttered and quickly circled around the charging tracker, "_I call forth the sword of wind!_"

A green blade erupted suddenly from Ranma's hands right into the tracker's chest, "Sorry."

The tracker didn't make a sound as his corpse fell right onto his own soldiers.

"Gotta go back and help the others!" Pausing, only to deflect another barrage of arrows, Ranma quickly flew towards Kikori who is running towards the front line, "That idiot! What is she thinking!"

"Ranma!"

"What are you doing Kikori! Running out here without support!" Ranma chided his partner and destroys a spear that was aimed as his head.

"Herb's in trouble!" Kikori said quickly, casting a shield around Ranma and herself, "I think Spice is overpowering him!"

Ranma turned to the Musk prince to see him land roughly on the ground, "Damnit, we have to help him!"

* * *

Herb grimaced as he hit the ground once more from his brother's punch, "Damn, he's too strong!"

"HERB!"

"Get out of here!" Herb yelled without turning his head, "_Drake FLARE!_"

A ball of blood red magic launched from Herb's palm up into the sky where Spice is floating.

Without even a grunt, Spice easily dispels the ball of magic, "You MUST try harder brother…"

"_Release!_"

Spice huffed and swatted away the green ball of magic with little thought, "Another rodent to play with."

Herb growled at the spirit mage, "Didn't I tell you to take care of the trackers!"

"I don't plan on being executed with everyone else if you lose this battle Herb." Ranma replied, looking wearily at the elder dragon prince floating in the air, "And you look like you're taking a beating."

"I'll heal your wounds Herb." Kikori said holding up her pendent.

Herb sighed and got into a battle stance as Kikori casts a minor healing spell on him, "Let us attack my brother together then if you must insist on helping me."

Ranma smirked, "About time."

"Are you three done talking?" Spice sneered, "Or do you still need time to say your prayers before I incinerate all three of you?"

"Cocky bastard," Ranma muttered, "_Spirits of wind, Stream from my hand!_"

"_Lizards BREATHE!_"

Two streams of magic, one green, one red, flowed towards the insane dragon prince as he held out his hand, "_Dragon Skin_."

A wall of pure gold magic appeared and intercepted the two magic spell. The two spells exploded creating a flaming twister engulfing the intended target.

Herb growled and shot into the air towards his brother followed quickly by Ranma, glowing in green magic.

"Imbeciles!" Spice roared. His prison of fire disappeared. A clawing strike from Herb is blocked and countered with a throw knocking Herb right into Ranma before he even got a strike in. "Is this all you've got **brother**?"

Blue light surrounded the two attacking mages, giving them a burst of energy. "You're out numbered Spice, no matter how you look at it, you'll lose."

"Feh, you mean those two gnats that are helping you?" Spice sneered, "They are not strong enough to harm me."

Ranma growled and fired streams of needle like wind towards Spice and quickly followed behind with blades of magic extending from both his hands. Spice grunted as he took the spell in this chest, ignoring the pain and punched at Ranma. A quick dodge and the two blades immediately danced around Ranma leaving trails of green light behind them. Spice smirked as he blocked each strike with his bracer. Seeing as his attack ineffective, Ranma let himself drop down few meters before flying up at Spice again. A quick thrust of his magic blade was blocked followed quickly by a spin kick scoring a hit on Spice on his side.

"You are quite persistent." Spice commented as he backed off slightly.

"_drake flare._" Herb whispered from beside his brother. The spell exploded into a pillar of flame in mid air pushing Herb beside Ranma as he watched his brother burn in the inferno.

"Did that do the trick?" Ranma asked.

"If it did, then either my brother has grown weak in the past day or I've grown stronger than I thought." Herb replied.

Ranma frowned as the pillar of flame began to shrink. "Is that suppose to happen."

"No…"

"Crap."

Herb spared a quick glance at his temporary partner, "Be wary."

"FOOLS! You really believe that you can defeat me? I have tapped into the power of our blood brother! I wield the power of the great serpent of fire himself!" Spice grinned insanely as he held a ball of fire between his two hands, "You can not harm me with spells like these fool."

* * *

Ranma tensed as he watched his adversary rant, **Can't charge him or I'll get burnt to a crisp, or will I….**"

"Herb, cover me." Ranma said summoning his green blade of magic once again.

"Are you insane?" Herb hissed, "You'll get burnt to a crisp!"

"I'm a wind spirit mage, fire won't harm me." Ranma said confidently and charged towards Spice with his blade in front of him.

"Idiot." Spice muttered and with a roar, he release a stream of fire towards Ranma.

"_I call forth the barrier of souls!_" A plane of green magic spread from the sword like an umbrella, creating a cone like shield which split the stream of fire in two. The spirit mage continue to charge towards Spice aiming for his heart. The Musk Prince's eyes widened as he watched the green blade charging towards him. "It's OVER!"

Spice twisted sideways at the last moment, but not fast enough, the blade slide effortlessly through Spice's shoulder causing him to scream in agony. Spice savagely back handed Ranma in retaliation. "How DARE you!"

Spice watched his blood flow from the wound, "Blood… my power…"

"It's over brother!" Herb yelled, charging at his brother. His fist shot out but met with a red barrier right in front of his brother's face.

"Red… Blood… Power…" Spice muttered, his eye's blank, unaware of everything around him.

"FALL!" Herb growled punched continuously at the mysterious red barrier.

"… is unleashed…"

Everything seemed to slow down in Herb's eyes as the red barrier exploded outwards.

"Power… is here…" Spice whispered.

Herb gasped in fear as he stared right into his brother's eyes…

Pure red orbs…

"Blood beast… the blood has taken over…"

* * *

Ranma panicked as he found himself falling rapidly towards the ground courtesy of the insane Dragon prince. "Crap… shit… damn… AHH!"

"_The wind is my walkway!_" The air around Ranma gradually thickens, slowing his fall quickly. "Thought I was going to die…"

"…ounds are healed, limbs regained…"

Ranma turned to the quite chanting, "Kikori..."

The priestess opened her eyes and nodded towards her partner without pausing in her chanting.

The pigtailed mage smirked and looked up towards the sky.

"Now you will ALL DIE!"

Ranma groaned, "I thought I got him!"

Spice looked down at the spirit mage and narrowed his eyes. A single finger stretched out and pointed towards Ranma.

"You will die first."

Ranma's eyes widen. In under a second, a huge ball of fire appeared in front of Spice and is shot towards him.

"Kikori!"

"Almost done…" Kikori whispered.

Ranma grunted and crossed his arms across his face, "_I call forth the barrier of souls!_"

A green dome flickered into existence around the two Japanese mages just as the ball of fire was about to engulf the two.

* * *

"Almost done…"

Kikori closed her eyes once again and continued to concentrate on her prayer. The healing power of her goddess filled her body and into her pendent making it glow brighter and brighter.

**It's done.**

"Miracle class regeneration…" Kikori whispered triumphantly with a smile and opened her eyes.

Ranma stood in front of her with his arms crossed, protecting his face.

"Ranma!"

"…"

"ranma?"

The pigtailed mage stood silently, his clothes sported burn holes all over. Smoke rise softly from his still body.

Kikori took a step forward cautiously.

The still body fell back.

A gasp left the priestess's lips.

"ranma?" Kikori stared at the fallen body of Ranma, her lips dry, her hands shaking. "no…"

Kikori fell on her knees. The insane laughter that filled the battle ground, the screams of death and agony from the battling army, the silently prayers from Herb, all of these didn't reach the priestess's ears as she stared at her fallen partner.

"I can call him…" Kikori nodded to herself and placed the pendent over Ranma's chest. "You won't die… I'll save you this time…"

She began to chant…

* * *

Now most of you must be wondering: Where the hell have YOU been.

Well honestly, I just didn't feel like writing this chapter. I've written other stuff as you guys might have noticed, but I didn't felt like writing THIS story.

But since it's almost Christmas and all that, I figured, what the hell, maybe something will come up and since some of you seem to like this for some reason, might be a nice surprise.

So here it is! I'll probably finish Act 1 by the end of January (It only has next chapter left, then it's on to Act 2!) and you'll see the climatic ending of this battle! YAY! BTW… sorry if this isn't as good as my other chapters… this is the first time I've ever done big battles like these and well… I think I suck at them. Seriously… so I apologize before hand for the lack of quality and shit like that…

Anyways, enough about me, since I've been gone so long, and I'm sure there are some of you that come for the Omakes… Here we go! An OMAKE!

**Omake My Precious! Omake**

"Herb, shouldn't we stop here and plan an offence into the city?" Ranma said cautiously from beside the Dragon prince, "If we just rush in, we'll get slaughtered."

"Don't worry yourself Saotome," Herb said, "The battle is not going to be fought into the Musk city itself, Spice is going to bring the fight out to meet us."

"How do you know that?" Ranma asked skeptically.

"This is his precious city, he won't allow it to come to harm." Herb said with a smirk, "Don't worry, I know how my brother thinks. That is to say, I know how Musk royalty thinks."

"Just like that creepy thing from Lord of the Rings!" Kikori piqued.

CUT!

"What?" Kikori whined, "It's true!"

"Ok that's it, no more LotR marathon for you Kikori." Ranma muttered.

"Come on! You have to admit it! It's true!" Kikori continued to whine.

"Why did you HAVE to buy the DVD box set of LotR Bro?" Saiko asked with a sigh, "It has warped your girlfriend's mind."

"It was on sale! And it was YOU who told me to buy a good movie to watch!" Ranma shot back.

"Herb! You watched LotR right! You HAVE to admit that sounded exactly like that creepy thing!"

"No it didn't."

"You don't HAVE to buy THAT!"

"But it was cheap!"

Ryouga sighed, "Damnit… I only come on once to get my assed kicked by faceless goons and now I have to listen to them whine… I hate this story…"

Mousses shrugged from beside Ryouga, "Too bad it's a Ranma ½ fic and not a Ryouga ½ fic huh?"

**Omake End Omake**

No I didn't buy a LotR DVD box set… I swear to god those things are cursed! They steal souls!

ANYWAYS… other than my insane claims (So say my friends…THEY ARE CURSED!) any comments? Suggestions? Flames? Or even screams of agony and pain to get me to stop writing? Use the nifty button right down there! And most importantly! Good luck on all the exams for those of us still in school/college/University, and a happy Christmas! Hopefully I'll manage to get something out before new years… but like usual don't wait for it p


	24. Chapter 24

"_Gates of Heaven; Gates of Hell, open thyself and lend me thine ear. Guardian of souls listen to my plea, grant this lowly follower of the daughter of life thy time._"

Kikori's pendent pulsed with magic. All around her, blue spots of light appear in the air and gently fall on to the ground around her.

"_Souls and spirits through thy door. Dark and Light and Shadows is their guide. Lend me thy power oh great gates, share with me your wisdom oh great guardians. Let mine life guide the lost back to the living._"

The blue lights around her suddenly stopped all movement. Explosions sounded all around the priestess, but nothing mattered except the casting, the spell. Scorching flames detonated around her, never touching her.

"_Let he who is knocked away be guided back. Be It Light, be it Dark, be it everything between the two gates, let the lost spirit be guided back. I call upon thee in the name of mine goddess, Daughter of Life, Child of Will, Goddess of Healing! Answer my plea oh Guardians of the gates of death!_"

The dots of blue light gathered together in over Kikori's Pendent and pulsed softly over Ranma's still form.

"Come back Ranma… Please… Come back…"

* * *

Act 1: Final Chapter, Part 2 

…then I saw it…

* * *

**That's it… come closer…** Ryouga thought to himself as the three trackers slowly converged to where he knelt, **Lost too much blood for that regeneration spell to be much effect… but having so much blood out does have it's advantages…**

The three trackers grinned and raised their swords.

"Heh, why do people like you always want to gloat before killing?" Ryouga whispered before bursting into action. A quick leg sweep knocked two of the trackers down. The third growled and swung his sword down digging the blade deep into Ryouga's shoulder.

"Big mistake…" Ryouga grinned, bearing his fangs, "_Life of all, death of all, I call upon the creation of life and death. Feast on this field of bloody hatred! BLOOD GOLEM!_"

The blood around Ryouga burst from the ground and surrounded him, snapping the sword that was imbedded in Ryouga's shoulder. The musk trackers all took a step back and watched in sick fascination as the blood of both their allies and enemy gathered around where Ryouga was kneeling until an orb of blood is formed all around the kneeling caller.

"**_I smell… death…_**"

The orb of blood suddenly exploded creating a rain of blood to reveal Ryouga standing beside a humanoid figure, around the same height as Ryouga, made purely out of blood on the battlefield.

"Blood golem…"

"**_Ahh, it's you. Are we having a party today?_**"

Ryouga turned his head and faced the blood golem, "We're hunting hunters today…"

The three trackers looked at each other in uncertainty and quickly retreated towards the city walls.

"**_Those three?_**"

"Yeah…"

"**_This will be fun_**." The blood golem turned itself into a puddle of blood and slithered away, chasing the three retreating trackers.

Ryouga chuckled before grabbing a sword from a fallen soldier and walked towards the fighting.

* * *

Mousse thanked the goddess silently as his wounds all healed in seconds as he continued to pull himself towards the fox like tracker. The Musk tracker snared angrily at the Amazon and releases a barrage of fireballs at Mousse as he sped towards himself. 

"I should've just fought my way through all those soldiers" Mousse muttered to himself before releasing his chain and pulling out large shield, deflection all the fireballs towards the ground. Right after Mousse landed, swords flashed all around him. Desperately trying to survive, forgetting all about his initial goal, Mousse pulled out another shield and covered his whole body with the two shields like an egg.

"I REALLY didn't want to use this…" Mousse muttered to himself once again within the protection of his shield. Clashing of metal on his shield sounded repeatedly around him, "Oh hells, Goddess forgive me and all that…"

Reaching into his sleeve, Mousse took out a feather made of platinum, "Bah, they're just Musk, not like Mother will scold me for using this on them."

The constant clanging around him stopped.

"Looks like it's time to party…" Mousse grinned as the metal feather slowly turned more life-like.

Mousse put both his shields back into this sleeves just as the feather burst into a flare of light. "Time to rain havoc, wings of blade..."

The feather multiplied itself surrounding the Chinese Amazon, slicing anyone that got too close. Mousse sneered as he grabbed hold of one of the feathers which quickly changed into a Chinese long sword.

The fox like tracker narrowed his eyes and hurled ball after ball of magic at the barrier of feathers with no effect.

"Dance... Waltz... Three step death." Mousse muttered. All the feathers around him quickly transformed into identical long swords and starts spinning around Mousse, "Now to end this fight... Musk..."

The tracker stared in sick fascination as the Chinese Amazon calmly stepped closer and closer to him killing anyone that got too close to the spinning blades around him.

He didn't even notice as he was beheaded moments later...

* * *

Herb grimaced in pain as he blocked another blast of pure power from his brother in the thralls of bloodlust. The burns on his arm quickly fades to nothing as Kikori's spell continue to regenerate all wounds on the dragon prince. 

"Give up LITTLE brother!" Spice roared as he powered up for another blast, "I'll even make sure to burn your corpse into ashes AFTER I killed you instead of just boiling you alive."

The younger of the Musk princes rolled his eyes, "Must you use threats like that brother? Not exactly incentive for me to just roll over and die."

"My mistake then" Spice laughed and continue to randomly fire blasts of purple draconic fire around him, "I'll just kill you quickly now!"

Herb growled as he weaved around the blasts of power his brother thoughtlessly throwing around, trying to get near him again.

"Where's all your bravado now brother?" Spice cackled, "Are your threats to kill me the only thing you can do? That human mage from Japan did more than you!"

The younger dragon prince shook in anger, "DIE!"

Spice grinned as his brother charged blindly at him, "Yes! Come to me!"

Herb covered his fists with magic and launched blow after blow at his brother who merely blocked with his bare hands. Spice snorted and trapped Herb's first within his palms. "You are nothing to me brother! Weak like our father!"

"Our father ISN'T weak! _Blood of ancestors! I call forth thy power!_" Herb screamed, his aura burst out from his body pushing his brother back.

"So, the little whelp does have power." Spice chuckled, "Sadly, not enough..."

Herb blinked and his brother disappeared from his sight, "What!"

"Behind you little brother. _Burst, Flame of Dragon Gods!_"

Herb's eyes widen as a blast of magic slammed into his back, relentlessly pushing him from the air into the earth.

"And that is the difference between us Herb. You are weak, I am strong." Spice laughed as his eyes glow an even brighter red, "Now watch, watch as I obliterate all that stands in my way! First... those foreign mages!"

Herb's eyes widen as his brother once again gather his draconic fire above him, "Stop brother! NO! You'll bring all the mages of the world on us!"

Spice turned towards his brother and smirked, "And I am supposed to be afraid of mere mortals when the blood of an eternal dragon runs through me? I am a descendent of a dragon, I fear no mortal! _Blood of my soul, I summon forth the powers of the mighty beast Dragon PULSE!_"

Herb charged his brother hoping to knock him away to cause a miscast but reached him too late. The two dragon princes tumbled wildly in the air as the giant ball of flame falls towards the praying priestess like a meteor.

"NO!" Herb screamed as the spell exploded in a flash of purple and red. Dust shot up into the air, forming a pillar of brown.

"And that is the end of those two." Spice said arrogantly.

"How... how can you doom our people like this brother?" Herb quaked in anger, "Our people will all perish because of you now!"

"Perish?" Spice gave Herb a confused look, "How can mere mortals defeat us, The Musk? We have blood of creatures more powerful than mere humans flowing through us, there isn't a way these foreign weaklings can defeat us!"

Herb roared, "I will KILL YOU! _Strength of Gods! Mighty! Dragon's Force!_"

Spice growled in returned as Herb charged blindly towards him. Magic flared around Herb's fist and he threw it towards Spice's head. Spice dodged the vicious blows and used the momentum of his charge to launch a kick towards his younger brother who flipped over it. Spice's hand burst into flame and blindly swiped all around him trying to grab hold of his brother who ducked under and launched a blow towards Spice's chin. A magic barrier appeared stopping the punch inches away from the target.

"Since you like those foreigners so much I'll bury you with them!" Spice roared and shot up into the air above Herb.

Purple magic gathered around Spice's hands within seconds and is unleashed towards Herb. The younger prince crossed his arms in front of his face, bracing for impact to no avail as he is blasted by the spell straight down towards the cloud of dust from Spice's last spell.

Herb cursed when he realized the priestess's regeneration spell has already expired as the pain from the last blow refuse to subside.

"I can't defeat my brother this way," Herb muttered to himself, "At least this cloud of dust can cover me for a while..."

Wind suddenly picked up, swirling the unsettled dust around Herb away quickly. Herb cursed once again and quickly tries to stand up, "What in the name of the dragon is doing this!"

"... ranma ... return to us..."

Herb blinked and turned towards the source of the voice to find Kikori still kneeling down on the ground beside the fallen Ranma, quietly praying.

"Impossible..."

Bright blue light suddenly exploded outwards, pushing all the dust away.

* * *

Ranma blinked as he looked around him. The plain was silent with only the sound of running water of a near by stream entering his ears. 

"Where am I? I was fighting..." Ranma said quietly.

A tranquil voice answered him, "No where, everywhere, somewhere..."

Ranma turned towards the voice to see a girl wearing a black Victorian style dress short black hair going to her shoulders. "I've seen you before..."

The girl smiled and nodded, "I told you I'll see you soon..."

The pigtailed mage frowned, "I don't remember you... Where am I?" Ranma demanded, taking a step towards the girl.

"Come, follow me, there are people waiting for you." The girl said calmly and gestured towards the river, "Follow me."

Ranma took another step towards the girl, "Waiting for me?"

"Yes... they'll be happy to meet you again."

"Meet me again?"

"Yes... now come." The girl said once again and beckoned Ranma towards her. A flash of black light appeared around the girls hand and disappeared just as quickly.

"Yes..." Ranma's eyes glazed over and he began to walk towards the girl drunkenly, swaying slightly.

_COME BACK!_

Ranma snapped awake in mid step, stumbling slightly, he took a step back, "No... I remember now..."

The girl frowned her hands covered with black light, "Come NOW!"

"No." Ranma replied, shaking his head and turned away from the girl, "She still needs me... I can hear her."

"You are dead... You WILL come." The girl sneered and took a step towards Ranma.

"KIKORI!" Ranma yelled and vanished suddenly from the plain, leaving it in silence once again, with only the sound of running water.

The girl in black huffed in frustration after listening to the stream for a few moments, "We'll meet again... and next time, you stay dead..."

* * *

"Kikori!" Ranma gasped for air as he looked around him, his gasp drowning out the light thump nearby. Dull blue lines slowly dissipate from around him in a circle with violent swirls of purple lines lingering in the air. "Huh?" 

"Yo-you're alive? How?" Herb stuttered.

Ranma turned towards Herb to see him surrounded by red lines with hints of blue line circling around the red lines. "Kikori... she..."

"WHAT!"

Ranma snapped out of his daze and turned upwards to see Spice floating in the air with purple lines bursting from his body as if to represent his anger, "How? I KILLED you!"

Ranma smirked, "I'm lucky I guess."

Herb grinned, "Well now seems like you're not as powerful as you think brother."

Spice twitched in anger, "It seems like I'll just have to FINISH THE JOB! _Burst! Flame of Dragon Gods!_"

In a split second Ranma saw the purple lines around Spice's body all move upwards rapidly and gather above Spice's head like a ball of yarn and flew quickly towards him.

Herb threw himself away from the charging spell, "Idiot! MOVE!"

Ranma began to jump aside but stopped himself from moving away when he saw Kikori laying on the ground behind him, "Kikori... NO!"

The pigtailed mage turned back towards the ball of purple flame. Everything seemed to slow down as Ranma frowned in concentration about to summon a barrier. The ball of purple flame slowly transforms into the ball of purple lines once again in Ranma's eyes.

**Lines of magic... I see it!** Ranma gasped and reached out towards it. Green dots appear around Ranma's out stretched arms, quickly forming a line as words formed in Ranma's mouth, "_I call forth the barrier of the sword of wind!_"

The lines around Ranma's arm shot forward right into the ball of purple line. The purple spell halted in mid air as the lines become loosened revealing a knot where all the lines meet. "There..." Ranma muttered and moved his spell to cut the knot.

The purple lines became unraveled and just floated in the air in front of Ranma.

"I saw it..."

* * *

Herb watched in fascination as the purple ball of flame is stopped to a halt by a single straight beam of green light extended from Ranma's out stretched hand. "What is this?" 

The purple spell wavered slightly before completely disappearing silently.

"How DARE you destroy my spell!" Spice roared and once again raised his hands upwards, "_BURST! Flames of the Dragon God!_"

Two balls of purple flame appeared above Spice, "DIE Insect!"

"Herb! Get Kikori outta here!" Ranma yelled out and braced himself with the green bar of magic.

Herb shot forward towards the unconscious priestess behind Ranma. The Japanese mage thrusted the bar of magic once again towards the charging ball of magic and destroyed it letting Herb grab Kikori and carrying her away from the battle field.

Ranma grunted as he threw himself away from the second ball of flame. The explosion threw him into the air. **Not fast enough... Can't find the knot and cut it to dispel two spells at once.**

Spice smirked, "I underestimated you Mage. You will provide me with quite a bit of entertainment before this all ends."

Ranma smirked as he concentrated on the lines around Spice, **If I can dispel the spell before he finish casting the spell...**

"_Drake FLARE!_"

Purple lines began to tie together between Spice's two hands. Ranma silently cast his flight spell and shot up from the ground and used his magic to destroy the knot before it finished forming.

The mad dragon prince gasped in surprise when his spell disappear suddenly in mid-cast leaving him wide open for the savage kick to the head Ranma unleashed from behind.

Ranma watched Spice catch himself in the air and shot forward once again to intercept his next spell only to be swatted away.

"FOOL! Do you really think you can strike me again!" Spice roared and summoned another purple fire ball.

Ranma smirked and did an upwards slashing motion, dispelling Spice's spell before he can throw it and launched a flying kick right into the mad Prince's stomach. "I don't THINK I can, I know I can, Fly boy."

* * *

Herb carefully placed Kikori below a tree at the edge of the battlefield, "I'm sorry Priestess I couldn't find a better place for you to rest. Forgive me for leaving you here, but I must go help your partner." 

The dragon prince nodded once and quickly flew back towards the battle.

No wind blew; everything is still around the unconscious priestess. Even the pair of eyes from the top of the tree that Kikori leans on move not even an inch.

The figure from the top of the tree dropped down onto the ground shortly and stared at the unconscious priestess silently. With a nod the figure left the unconscious priestess and ran along the edge of the battlefield, towards where Ranma and Spice dueled...

* * *

Ranma kneeled on the ground and panted heavily. Dodging another blast of magic that is thrown effortlessly by Spice from the air the Spirit mage frowned at himself, **Why am I so tired? I should be able to dodge spells like this for hours!**

"Whats the matter? Feeling tired already?" Spice smirked from the air and summoned another ball of fire, "And here I thought you can give me enough entertainment before my brother returns."

Ranma squinted, trying to see the lines again to dispel the fire ball, but the lines refused to appear for him forcing him to dodge again. **Why can't I see it again! WHY!**

"It seems this fight is over." Spice cackled, "Now PERISH! _Blood of my soul, I summon forth the powers of the mighty beast Dragon PULSE!_"

Desperate strength filled Ranma. The lines appeared once again, showing Ranma the knot of the spell. Reaching for the meeting point of the lines, Ranma shot a weak beam of magic, sundering the spell once again.

Spice smirked, "Seems I haven't weakened you enough yet mage... Impressive."

**I'm too tired... that must be it... Seeing the lines made me too tired to do anything** Ranma cursed himself, **Stupid, I shoulda realized that, along with dispelling all the spells, I've drained all my stamina...**

Ranma lifted himself unsteadily to his feet, **One more spell... Something that can finish the fight... but what?**

"SAOTOME!"

Ranma turned towards the voice, taking his eyes away from Spice who quickly shot a fireball at the ground below Ranma. The explosion threw Ranma into the air.

"I've got you." Ranma grinned as he felt himself stop caught in the air.

"Herb..."

Said person nodded and landed on the ground, and placed the Spirit mage beside him, "Good to see you survived."

"Barely..." Ranma replied, "We need ta finish this fight, I have enough juice in me ta cast one last spell, do you have any spells that can finish him off?"

"Yes... but unless my brother is standing still for a minute, it won't be any good." Herb replied.

"That's good enough," Ranma grinned without looking away from Spice, "If you can get your brother to land on the ground near me, I can hold him long enough for you."

"You certain?" Herb said skeptically.

"Trust me."

Herb nodded and flew into the air to meet his brother who floated there with his arms crossed, "Finally came to your slaughter brother? It seems like I'll have to kill the foreign mage after I killed you."

"Just die." Herb whispered and threw himself towards his elder brother.

* * *

"_Forces of wind, spirit of nature, gather upon my hand. Wind, element of the four gods, call upon the power which you guard, let mine spirit grasp its strength._" Green lines all around Ranma gather between his cupped hands in front of him. A gentle breeze blew, swaying his hair in front of his closed eyes. 

"_Flow of endless winds, like the force which you guard, pathless, goalless, chaotic, gather between my unworthy hands and lend thy power unto my cause!_" The greenish white orb of magic between Ranma's hands pulsed gently, wavering unsteadily as it began to shrink.

"_Let the powers of the four flow through the gates which you guard. Wind, hear my plea, and let the ravages of time course through your being unto my palms! Chronos Labyrinthos!_"

The orb of magic disappeared from Ranma's palms as he opened his eyes. His hands pulsed in power, the air around them seem to distort unstably. "HERB!"

The younger dragon prince looked towards the Spirit mage and flew backwards, leading his brother with him onto the ground near Ranma, "NOW!"

Ranma ran towards Spice with his hands out stretched. Spice sneered and pointed his palm towards the charging mage. The air around his outstretched arm wavered slightly. Spice inhaled sharply and looked at his unmoving arm, "What?"

"Take THIS!" Ranma yelled and slammed both his palms right into Spice's chest with seemingly no effect. Spice roared in anger and blindly swiped at the retreating mage who tripped.

"DI- erk..."

All around Spice's body, the air distorted rapidly. Bubbles of green magic appeared and burst randomly. The Mad dragon prince could do nothing as he is caught by Ranma's final spell but scream in pain even as the spell distorted his voice to the ears of others.

* * *

The figure huffed as her glowing violet eyes dimmed. "Can't believe I helped in a Musk civil war, those Musk are lucky Ranma is helping them or else I wouldn't even bother..." 

Shampoo sighed in irritation as she stalked away from the battlefield and back towards her village, "Goddess help me, I'm going to need to take a bath, I feel dirty just by helping them..."

* * *

The Distorted screams of his brother reached Herb's ears surprising him. "What is that?"

Ranma panted heavily, "Don't... ask... jus' go..."

"_Flames of the Earth, hear me! By the blood of the dragon of fire, I command thee to rise from the depth of Hell and Earth and cleanse our land of impurity! Fury of Fire! RISE!_" Herb roared and thrust his hands out towards where Spice stood trapped by Ranma's Spell in concentration.

"Lava... You're... makin'... a small... eruption!" Ranma said in amazement, still panting for breath.

"Yes... now if you please be quiet, liquid earth is hard to come by in these parts..." Herb replied curtly.

* * *

Ryouga stood in front of a quivering tracker holding a broken sword with his blood golem beside him, "So it ends." 

"It won't end until our king is dead!" The tracker said in his shaking voice, "Our king won't die!"

Ryouga frowned and gestured towards the last tracker, "Do what you want Blood golem..."

"**_My pleasure._**"

Ryouga turned away just in time to see a pillar of lava burst from the ground, "What the hell..."

All the fighting stopped in unison as a roar echoed through the battle ground.

"That's... Herb..." Ryouga smiled and shook his head, "He did it... he actually did it..."

Spice's army dropped their weapons in defeat without hesitation and bowed their heads.

"It's over..."

* * *

Cologne sat straight as the roar reached her ear. "Who won..." 

"Don't worry Grandmother, the result of the war shouldn't affect us."

Cologne turned towards Shampoo who stood silently at the doorway, "Where were you?"

"Making sure the war ends in our favor..." Shampoo replied, "Now if you excuse me Grandmother, I need to take a bath."

Cologne blinked and chuckled, "I'll let it go this time Great Grand daughter, but don't expect a next time for ignoring my orders..."

* * *

A light snore reached Kikori's ears waking her. Her eyes fluttered open to see a stone ceiling decorated with a chandelier. The priestess turned to her side to find Ranma sleeping at the side of the bed she laid on. A gentle smile grazed her face as she softly placed her hand on her partner's cheek. 

"You're alive..." Kikori whispered, "Thank the goddess you're alive..."

Ranma stirred in his sleep. Kikori lifted her hand away from Ranma's cheek and kissed it gently, "Thank you..."

With a yawn, Kikori fell back into slumber with a smile on her face.

* * *

Ranma woke to the sound of birds chirping and the calls of an eagle. Soft laughter reached his ears as he sat himself up slowly. "Kikori?" 

"Ranma! You're awake!"

The pigtailed mage smiled and sighed in relief, "You're alright..."

"What do you mean I'm all right! You died!" Kikori frowned and stomped towards Ranma, "Don't you DARE try to do that again!"

"What you mean save you from a death due to purple fire?" Ranma retorted earning him a slap in the face.

"You... you died!" Kikori screamed.

"Yeah, and you would've died if I didn't block it!" Ranma grumbled, "Ungrate-"

Ranma stopped as Kikori wrapped her arms around his waist, crying into his shirt, "Don't ever leave me like that again."

Ranma sighed and returned the hug, "I won't... Sorry Ki-chan..."

"Rammie..."

"Ahem..."

The two mage quickly let go of each other and stood ram rod straight and turned towards the door.

"Herb!"

"Herb!"

The dragon prince smirked, "I'm sorry for interrupting the tearful reunion, but there is a group Amazons that are here to escort you back. And my men are getting uneasy with all the glares they are getting from your escort."

Ranma nodded, "I'll relay your proposal to the council. I'm sure the response will be more than exceptional."

Herb shook his head, his smirk still on his face, "And tell your council never to send you again on these missions, you must be the worst negotiator I've ever seen."

Ranma blushed and scratched the back of his neck, "I never said I was good."

"Negotiations? How long was I unconscious?" Kikori asked.

"A week." Ranma replied and gave Kikori a smile, "Don't worry 'bout it."

The dragon prince nodded, "Take care Saotome. You will always be welcomed in our lands. You too Priestess Sekihara."

"Same to ya Prince Herb," Ranma said confidently, "If ya ever need help, give me a call."

Herb nodded, "Follow me, I'll send you off."

The two mages followed the prince through the castle, into the town and right to the inner wall, "My men will feel uncomfortable if I went out of the inner wall with the Amazons right at our doorstep."

"We understand." Kikori said bowing once again, "Take care and good luck with the rest of the negotiations."

"Please don't hesitate to call upon my help; I am in debt to both of you." Herb said.

Ranma grinned, "Hey don't sweat it! Glad to have helped!"

Kikori smiled, "Yes, it was our pleasure."

Herb nodded once again as he watched the two walk down the stairs and away from the Musk city. "The gods watch upon you... my friends..."

"HEY! You didn't see me naked did you?"

"NO! I ask the maids to change you! I swear!"

"You better have not or else!"

"KIKORI! I didn't!"

Herb sweatdropped, "I should send a letter of recommendations to the tower for them to never send those two on negotiations..."

* * *

Ranma nodded as the group of Amazons greeted them at the entrance of the Musk Citadel, "Lead on." 

"You are in good health I hope." One of the Amazons asked as they set off.

"Yes, we are." Kikori answered.

Ranma summoned a ball of green magic on top of his palm and snuffed it out with his hands. Green lines floated out from between his fingers. Ranma smirked, "Better than ever."

Kikori gave her partner an odd look.

"Come on, let's go home." Ranma said softly and placed his arms around Kikori's shoulders, "I bet the stores been robbed or something."

Kikori giggled, "Sure, if you say so..."

**End of Act One**

**

* * *

**Err... Sorry about this being late... I blame my ineptness at buisness. The buisness project that I had to do took up lots of my time and I never got the chance to finish this up. It was suppose to be up last month, but well... yeah.. sorry again. 

So thats the end of Act One. As one of the reviewers so correctly stated... Yeah I've been dragging this on for a BIT too long... hehe... Hopefully I won't make that mistake in the following few Acts. Since the chapter was pretty much serious, I decided to give it a light hearted ending and not a hardcore bloodly WOOT slaughter! ending that seemed so attractive. Then I remembered I can't write scenes like that without screwing up. Good thing I went with this ending or else I'll never finish this chapter...

I think I did a pretty good job on the fight scenes. Kinda hard to mix magic and martial arts together. Lots of times in the last two chaptersI had to remind myself, Ranma can fight hand to hand! or Ranma can cast magic! and I'll have to redo the scene. But some of the scenes Ranma was in, espeically at the end bit, I concentrated on the magic aspect of Ranma's abilities because I feel that this Ranma isn't as confident about his martial arts as he is his magic since he WAS raised in a mage tower and all that. Hopefully, you guys feel the same as I about the fight scenes. Any comments to improve those scenes I would greatly appreciate!

Also, Ranma gets a power up! This will make future magic vs magic fights more interesting as Ranma will actually see the actual way magic is cast thus I get to write more about magic in this story! Yay for me!

No Extra this chapter 'cause I have to study for my final exams, but I hope you guys enjoyed this story thus far and be sure to wait for the next act!

Comments? Ideas? Suggestions? Flames? Or even threats to throw me back to kindergarden? Just click the button down below Til next time See ya.


End file.
